


Mafia Lovers

by RifulOfTheWest



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Italian Mafia, Romance, Russian Mafia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-04 15:34:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 24,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14596134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RifulOfTheWest/pseuds/RifulOfTheWest
Summary: What happens when the boss of the Russian mafia and the boss of the Italian mafia try to form an alliance? They force their children into a fake marriage with each other! The problem is Mr. Babicheva only has one daughter, Mila, and Mr. Crispino also only has his one daughter, Sara. Oh well, that’s not going to stop them anytime soon.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I was disgusted by the lack of ONLY Mila and Sara fics posted here so I decided to write my own. There are 18 chapters and I’ll upload one every other day. Hope you guys like it and PLEASE share this work with anyone who cares :)

“Where you heading beautiful?”

To say that Mila was annoyed was an understatement. She was more along the lines of extremely pissed off. She did not endure an 11 hour flight from Moscow to New York just to be catcalled by a seriously pasty looking group of tattoo covered gentlemen. One of the many reasons she hated travelling to America was that no one knew who the hell she was. 

To top it all off, Mila was already running late for whatever urgent meeting her father had called her for. She hated being late. 

Wolf whistles and kissy noises from the group only made Mila walk faster.

“What’s a vixen like you doing around this part of the city?” the guy who seemed to be the leader of the little group asked.

When Mila ignored him once again, he grabbed her wrist and swiftly pinned her against the wall. “I’m talking to you bitch.” 

Nothing to stress about. If they didnt know who she was before, they were sure gonna find out now. 

Calmy, Mila pulled off her right glove and displayed her ring finger. Much to the assaulter’s disappointment, she was not in fact stripping. Mila was instead flashing off a ring engraved with her family crest, which she had pretty much worn all her life.

The man instantly went pale. That's how it was. Anybody with even a little bit of common sense knew exactly what that marking meant. 

“No fucking way. The- The Bratva?! Why the hell you got something like that on you, unless…”

Mila smiled for the first time since landing in America. “That’s right! I’m his daughter! The one everyone’s been talking about lately. And now that you know I’m such an important person, it would be a shame if I were to tell my father that I ran into a little trouble on my way to see him.”

The little posse that had been so enthusiastic about her ‘sweet ass’ earlier ran away so quickly that Mila thought they might as well have been speed skating down an ice rink.

She knew it wasn’t exactly every girl’s fantasy, but damn did Mila love being the only daughter of the Russian mafia’s boss.

\--------

Sara was excited. This was the first time her father allowed her to visit New York City. To be more accurate, this was the first time her father let her leave Italy at all without being escorted by about 300 of his most intimidating men.

There were actually about 10 men outside of her suite but still, quite the improvement. 

Sara practically twirled around the apartment, humming and grinning to herself. She stopped at the window. _God,_ she thought. _I bet the city’s even prettier at night._ The 53rd floor of the expensive hotel her father placed her in easily overlooked all the best features of Manhattan. She couldn’t wait to explore them herself.

“The car is outside Ms Crispino”, called Sergio, one of her father’s closest men. 

Hoping that she had more time to admire the view sometime later today, Sara reluctantly backed away from the window. 

“Be right there!” Sara replied as she searched for her purse.

_Oops. Almost forgot._

Running back to bathroom, Sara retrieved her family ring. Anyone with a brain would immediately back off once they saw the engraving on it.

La Cosa Nostra. Her cosca. The only surviving child of the head of the Italian mafia. 

“Can we stop for some coffee on the way? I’d really like to see what it tastes like here!” Sara asked Sergio on the way down in the elevator, who simply nodded his head.

It’s not often she actually gets to be involved in any of the business her father conducts. Whatever this important meeting was about, Sara definitely wanted to be alert during all of it and coffee would definitely help.


	2. Chapter 2

Sara’s car pulled up at the meeting place exactly at 5:00. Right on time, just how she liked it. However this time Sara would have much rather preferred to arrive a little early because once she stepped out of the car, she instantly felt the need to explore.

Buildings. Skyscrapers. Some made of glass. Some made of brick. All of them easily more than 20 stories high and it just so happened that the building that her father asked her to meet him at was the tallest out of all of them. Feeling more than a little overwhelmed, Sara hesitantly stepped into the building.

 _Oh I definitely need to ditch this meeting the first chance I get. There’s no way I’m missing even a second of this vacation in New York,_ Sara thought.

As if reading her mind Sergio motioned her into an elevator and hastily pressed the button for the 45th floor. “Ms Crispino, I’d like to remind you that you are not on vacation and are only here on strict orders from your father. You should try and concentrate on whatever he has in mind for you. Try not to put yourself in any unnecessary danger.” 

If this came from anyone but Sergio, Sara would have been pretty pissed off. She’s technically second in command so if anyone gave her lip, Sara would not hesitate to give them a crack across the face. It’s not like she’s ignorant in the mobster ways.

Ever since she was little, Sara was trained to fight for herself with hand weapons or if it came down to it her own hands. Most men in her cosca that knew her usually walked the other way if they knew she was in a bad mood that day.

But for some reason whenever Sara looked at Sergio’s face, things that she would rather not remember came bubbling up. He’s been good to her and her family after all. Done all he could, even when it wasn’t enough. And for that, Sara will always have a soft spot for the guy and that’s enough for her to endure his constant nagging.

Sara smiled at him. “Ha. Are you the family Nonna? You know I have to at least look around when I’m done here. I trust you won’t tell papa when I do. I promise I’ll be careful.”

Sergio only awkwardly grunted in reply. 

_Cute_

The elevator finally reached its destination and the two stepped off. After walking down the left hallway and making a right, Sara was surprised to see two of her father’s beefiest men standing outside one of the doors. Not only that, but there were two more incredibly intimidating men that she didn’t know standing opposite from them. They definitely didn’t look Italian or American, that was for sure.

Timidly, Sara excused herself and opened the door to the room that was currently being guarded by four bears. Sergio remained outside.

A wave of relief washed over her when she saw her father sitting at a table opposite from a reddish-auburn haired gentleman. 

“Ah! Papa! Sorry if I’m a little late, I missed you!” Sara said while walking up to him and kissing both his cheeks.

“How are you my darling! Sit sit. You’re right on time. Sara this is Mr. Babicheva. Mr. Babicheva, my daughter Sara,” said her father as she sat down.

“Ah… pleasure to finally meet you Sara. I’m sure we’ll become more acquainted as time goes on,” said Mr. Babicheva as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. Sara nodded in reply.

 _Errr. Ok what is that supposed to mean? And who even is this guy._ Sara wondered.

She looked to her father for answers but he seemed just as nervous as his new friend at the other side of the table.

“So do you mind explaining what this meeting is about and why you specifically asked for me to be here?” asked Sara politely, breaking the silence. 

“My apologies but I’d like to start explaining things once everyone shows up. We’re just waiting for one more person. I’m sure she won’t be long,” replied Mr Babicheva. Sara was starting to notice his thick foreign accent. She couldn’t really place a language to it though. 

_What was it? Russian? Maybe Polish? Oh wait duh. Babicheva is so obviously Russian,_ thought Sara. _...Huh. I guess this is pretty serious if it’s only a small group of four people._

After a few minutes of Sara sitting there wondering why her father and some seemingly important Russian man had requested that she travel all the way to New York City, she heard a conversation from the other side of the door.

A few seconds later it opened and in rushed a strikingly attractive woman who was about a head taller than Sara but seemed to be around the same age as her.

“Sorry I’m late papuchka. It’s a long walk from here to the airport,” Her voice was silvery and lined with traces of the same accent that Mr. Babicheva had.

Her figure was slender, like that of a model, and her hair color matched the auburn hair of Mr. Babicheva. It’s length was slightly above the shoulder and was tucked behind her ears, revealing black stud piercings on both ears and a few helix piercings. 

“It’s fine Mila. Sit so we can get started,” said her father while pulling out the chair next to him.

_Mila. Her name is Mila._

It was when the girl sat down across from Sara that their eyes finally met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any questions? Feel free to comment


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by the way, words in italics means the thoughts of the character. duh

Purple. This girl’s eyes were purple! And those purple eyes were staring right at her.

When Mila had been informed by her father that she needed to attend a _very_ important meeting, she had expected to walk into a conference room filled to the brim with important looking people. 

Instead, there were only two other people in attendance besides her father. One was some middle aged tan guy with slicked back dark hair and an intimidating aura to him and the other was a girl about her age. 

She had tan skin and long, straight black hair. She was sitting down but Mila guessed that she was probably a good amount taller than the girl. They had been holding eye contact for a while now.

_Hah. She looks cute… like a mouse,_ Mila thought. She loved mice.

Her father stood up. “Right. Mr. Crispino, now that they’re both here we should do our introductions.”

This time, the tan man stood up and addressed Mila. “It is a pleasure to meet you Ms Babicheva. I know this is rather sudden but thank you for coming. You can just call me Mr. Crispino, I’m the head of the Italian mafia and this is my daughter Sara,” he said gesturing to the mouse girl next to him. 

_Oh. Her name’s Sara thats really prett- wait… Italian mafia?!_

Her father spoke before Mila could raise any questions, “Well you two have already met me but I’ll introduce us again. This is my daughter, Mila Babicheva and you can refer to me as Mr. Babicheva, current head of the Russian mafia.”

Mila saw Sara’s jaw drop and felt a little better to know that she wasn’t the only one who was completely shocked. 

“I’m sure you two are very confused right now, but allow us to explain. I’m assuming you’re both aware of the recent spike in fatalities in both of our ranks,” said Mr. Crispino.

_Now that you mention it, there have been a lot more violent death reports involving our comrades lately._

“The number of deaths on both sides have been over 200 each and it’s still increasing exponentially. We can’t continue to sit by and do nothing while our men are dying for no good reason,” he continued.

“But why does that involve the Russian mafia?” Sara asked.

Mila’s father shifted uncomfortably. “You see, Mr. Crispino and I have looked into this matter hoping to find the reason of this sudden increase in violence. Unfortunately… all of these deaths seemed to have been caused by opposing gang fights. In other words, Italian on Russian crime and Russian on Italian crime. We don’t know exactly what started it but we do know it’s been getting worse lately.”

Mila’s never known the Italian mafia to be that much trouble in the past. In fact if she recalled correctly, her comrades and the Italians have been relatively peaceful to each other during the time that she was alive. She definitely holds no ill will against the Italians and she certainly knows her father thinks the same. These sort of random feuds happen in the world of gangs and it’s not really anyone’s fault. However Mr. Crispino was right, they couldn’t let these pointless conflicts continue any further.

“So why not make an armistice and publicly announce it to our groups? Surely then they’ll have to restrain themselves against each other if we directly order them to,” suggested Sara.

“We had hoped to do that. Your father and I have a very good relationship so obviously neither of us want a full on war with each other. It would be tremendously convenient if we could solve this problem without attracting that much attention either. Unfortunately, it would seem that a simple agreement between our two groups wouldn’t have much of an effect on our subordinates,” said Mila’s father. 

“How so?” asked Mila.

“Something’s really got the lower ranks pissed off this time. If a simple order to stop fighting each other came directly from us, they would just ignore it. We need to have something that creates a bigger impact. Something that would be important enough for all of them to cease the killing immediately. It has to be something that they respect,” he replied.

Mila was stumped. She couldn’t think of anything like that. When it came to what her comrades liked, the only things that came to mind would be a lifetime supply of bikini babes and vodka.

_Man I really need to extend my friend group to people outside the Bratva._

Mr. Crispino folded his hands. “And that’s where you ladies come in.”

Mila and Sara looked at each other, both looking equally confused.

Sara spoke first. “What do we have to with this?”

Both Mila’s father and Mr. Crispino looked terribly uncomfortable, each of them squirming in their chairs and sweating excessively even though this was an air conditioned room. 

“Well… after careful consideration… uh Mr. Babicheva and I decided to uhm… we humbly ask you two to err…”

There was a long pause after Mr. Crispino couldn’t finish his sentence.

Reluctantly, Mila’s father finished the statement for him “We would like you two to participate in an arranged marriage with each other.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Could you please repeat that? I think I was having a hallucination. I could have sworn you said-”

Mila was cut off by Sara, who emphasized her irritation by slamming both of her fists on top of the table. “What in the hell are you thinking?! Stai scherzando? It’s 2018! you can’t just auction off your daughters to an arranged marriage. Chi ti credi di essere?! I cannot believe-”

“Sara please, let us explain. We have no other options-” Mr. Crispino replied calmingly.

“Bullshit,” Mila cut in. “There’s always another way. You can’t just make us marry each other against our will. It’s not fair, no matter what the reason behind it is.”

“Mila! I expect you to be respectful, even under these circumstances. Believe us, we’re not exactly elated to have to resort to something like this either,” said her father while massaging his forehead. 

“Чушь какая…” Mila muttered under her breath.

Obviously, Mila was not thrilled with this news. And she could tell that Sara wasn’t either by the way her hands were shaking in little balled up fists on top of the table. Mila was biting the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from saying anything else that could offend anyone in this room.

It’s not that Mila didn’t like Sara. She was sure Sara was a nice enough person. It’s just the idea of having to fake marry her so suddenly. Mila barely even met the girl five minutes ago. Not just that, but Mila definitely did not want to get married to anyone at the moment. She was young and she loved her freedom way too much. She loved coming home everyday at 3am, drunk on vodka after fucking around with the police with a group of her friends. 

To Mila, the mafia life was the best life. And since it was inevitable that at some point she was going to become the head of the Bratva, Mila thought she might as well enjoy every second of it. Having an arranged marriage with some random Italian girl was not part of her plan, even if it was just pretend. Mila felt as if her whole way of life was ending.

Mr. Crispino finally spoke. “I understand that coming up with something like this is unacceptable, but at this point it’s the only way we can stop all these unnecessary deaths. The Italians and the Russians have never had any trouble with each other and we would very much like to keep it that way.” 

Sara stood up. “Still, I don’t understand why I have to throw away my life just so-”

“DO YOU WANT GOOD PEOPLE TO KEEP DYING?!” Mr. Crispino spat out, immediately shutting Sara up.

His expression softened. “Please. Sara... Mila... Mr. Babicheva and I are tired of seeing members of our family die. Try and understand, I’ve known some of these boys since they were babies. How can I go back and show my face to their mothers, telling them I found their son dead in the street after welcoming them into my family and promising to protect them. This violence between our two groups has been going on for about 3 years and nothing we’ve done so far has had any effect. We didn’t want to tell either of you about it until it was necessary and we’re choosing to tell you now only because we have no other choice. You two are our last resort.”

It’s not like Mila was a stranger to death. So many of her mafia friends have come and gone. None of it was fair and if anything could have been done to prevent their deaths, Mila would have wanted it. Suddenly, giving up her love life to prevent hundreds of deaths didn’t sound like such a bad idea.

“Do you mind explaining as to why an arranged marriage would be so effective in this case?” Mila asked calmy.

Her father perked up. “Of course Mila. In the past we tried to solve this issue with various treaties and alliances. None of that did anything. We’ve even tried personally confronting the problem areas in both the Russian and the Italian sides but even that had no effect. They just kept going, it’s almost as if they’ve lost respect for the other side completely. A marriage between our two families on the other hand, would be something they have to respect.”

He smiled. “They may be thugs but even they wouldn’t get between something like love. And if we decide to make the marriage official, it would be even better for us because our two families would be joined together. Imagine that! The Russian mafia and the Italian mafia as one force. We’d have the whole world quaking in their boots!”

Mr Crispino butted in. “But of course that really isn’t our goal here. Above everything, we just want the deaths of our subordinates to stop.” 

Mila’s father nodded and Mr. Crispino continued, “Normally under this practice, it would have been preferred if one of our sons and one of our daughters were to be married. Unfortunately, you two are the only surviving children of our bloodline so we had to push this matter.”

Mila saw Sara wince at that last statement and nobody said anything for a while.

“So what do we have to do?” Sara asked quietly.

“You don’t have to do anything too serious. We’re just asking you two to act like a couple in public. In your private time you’re free to do what you like but in order to convince our ranks it would be preferable to spend as much public time as you can together. In other words you two are putting on a show and the audience happens to be members of our mafia who, may i add, are very hard to please. And chances are once word about your relationship gets out in our ranks, there will be people watching your every move.” answered Mila’s father.

“Conveniently, the recent string of deaths have only been a problem to our men stationed in America. We have a few thousand on each side currently in New York right now and once the word spreads around here, it’ll spread to our men we have all over the world. And even luckier for us, marriage between two women is perfectly acceptable in the U.S. so if we need to resort to actual marriage we can.” added Mr. Crispino.

Mila didn’t really know what to say. Her father and Mr. Crispino seemed to have everything planned out already as if she had no other choice. But should she? Mila was practically giving up some of the best years of her life if she were to go along with this plan. Not to mention how uncomfortable it would be to display romantics with Sara in front of other people who judged her every move.

But if she didn’t, one of two things could happen. One, her father would force her and Sara to do it anyways, just without consent from both parties or two, if she refused, the deaths from both mafias would start piling up at an alarming rate and the two sides would be forced into an all out war.

_Sara, are you even okay with this?_ Mila thought as she looked at Sara.

Sara had been silent for a while, the only noticeable movements being tucking her silky raven hair behind her ear. Now she just sat in her chair, staring at her shoes.

“Of course, you two would have to live in New York City for a while,” Mila’s father continued, “We set aside a nice luxurious apartment in Hudson Square that we would like you both to live in. And if you have any problems there are probably going to be some of our men who are always nearby.”

At this point Mila had already decided that like her father said, a plan like this would be their best option. She was already mentally preparing herself to devoting this time in her life to the purpose of ending this mafia conflict. However, that didn’t mean that Mila wanted to be the first one out of her and Sara to say that she would agree to this whole idea. Saying yes so easily would make Mila seem like she was actually into the idea, and she still had no idea what Sara even thought of her. She definitely didn’t want to come off as eager.

But… Mila swallowed her insecurities in that moment and said, “Fine. I’ll agree to this arrangement,” and was pleasantly surprised when Sara said only seconds later, “I’ll do it too.”


	5. Chapter 5

Sara had always been a good girl. Follow papa’s orders and stay put. Don’t hang out with these people. Stay in Italy. Stay in the neighborhood. 

Her brother Michele on the other hand, wasn’t so obedient. Even as a ten year old, Mickey knew exactly what to do to get them both into trouble. Always doing the opposite of what their father asked of them. Don’t get involved. Don’t pick a fight. Don’t leave the room. Don’t die. Always the opposite. 

Mickey always had to have it his way and his way was all about protecting his sister. He never failed to come to the rescue when Sara needed him the most. She wished he would have messed that part up sometimes.

Now once again, Sara was just following orders. Pretend to be in love with a girl you just met to keep the peace. 

This time however, Sara felt it was different. She wasn’t doing this just to please her father like the other times. Sara just wanted all this death to stop. Whoever these people were, even if she didn’t know them, she couldn’t let them essentially destroy themselves. Death never sat well with her and Sara knew she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself knowing she could have done something for her familia but chose not to. 

Sara was just hoping that Mila was all right with all of this. She could learn to cope with this new way of living, but she had no idea how Mila would handle this kind of stuff. In fact, she had no idea what Mila was like at all. And thinking about this whole thing now, Sara realized she might have put herself in the most awkward situation ever.

Sara glanced over at Mila who was sitting next to her in the car. Of course, Sergio accompanied in the passenger seat. Mila’s father had arranged one of his men to drive her and Mila to their new apartment with the parting words of, “I trust you two will figure it out. I expect your relationship to be in full working mode by tomorrow.”

Mila wasn’t looking in her direction and it didn’t look like she was in the talking mood either. The Russian girl just sat with her legs crossed while looking out the window. Sara took this opportunity to look out the window too. She might have appreciated how beautiful the lights made the city look at night, but Sara was way too preoccupied thinking about her new roomate. 

_First impressions matter. If we’re gonna have to act like we’re in love we should at least be on friendly terms,_ Sara concluded.

She couldn’t really explain it but even before the mention of this whole marriage thing, the first time that Sara saw Mila walk into the room, she wanted to get to know her. Something about that mature face and those cold blue eyes made Sara want to actually see what the girl looked like when she smiled. 

Sara had time to wonder about all kinds of things about Mila before the car finally pulled up to a ridiculously fancy looking apartment complex. Sara got out of the car as the driver rolled down his window and started talking to Mila in Russian, who was also now out of the car. 

After a few back and forth exchanges, he and Sergio drove off leaving Mila and Sara by themselves for the first time today. 

_Uhhhh what now. Do we just go in and say who we are or…_ Sara’s thoughts were interrupted by Mila jingling a pair of keys in the air.

“We’re on floor 20,” she said as she opened the door to the entrance. The pair got in the elevator and pressed the button with the number 20 on it before Mila continued. “Our driver said there are men stationed in the basement in case we need any help. Three of your men and three of mine. If you need to contact them, apparently there’s a radio in our apartment.”

The elevator opened and they got off. After opening the door to their new apartment, neither of the girls could hide their astonishment. Sure Sara was used to living in luxury, after all her father was one of the richest men in Italy, but this was a whole new type of luxury. The most noticeable thing being the giant flat screen tv in their living room, which was right next to a full wall of windows. The view from them was amazing. Sara could admire the Hudson River while still overlooking some really cool buildings in the city. 

“Woow. They really went all out with this place! Wanna check out the other rooms?” asked Mila who was now grinning from ear to ear. 

_Woah. This is the first time I’ve seen her smile. She looks like an excited kid... That's adorable._ Now it was Sara’s turn to smile.

“Yes please!” Sara replied. 

The kitchen was elegant as expected and the bathroom was excessive in both space and fancy smelling soap, which Sara had accidentally squirted onto her nose while trying to smell it. This had sent Mila into a fit of laughter and while Sara was embarrassed, she was glad their friendship was getting off to a good start. 

It was when they went into the bedroom when things started to get a little awkward. Everything about it was just as fancy as the rest of the apartment. It had a nice television, another nice window, a spacious closet. Just one problem though.

There was only one bed.

Mila, choosing to ignore the elephant in the room, rushed over to the bed. “Ah. I guess they brought over our clothes and stuff. Damn, it’s like they already prepared everything knowing we were gonna say yes.”

Sara sighed. “They’re really so full of themselves aren’t they?” This made Mila smirk and shrug her shoulders.

“Do you mind if I take a shower first?” asked Sara as she began to pick out what pajamas she was going to wear

“Yeah go ahead. I’ll take one later,” replied Mila as she busied herself with putting her clothes in their new closet.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very adorable chapter in my humble opinion :)

By the time the two had finished taking their showers it was already around 12am. 

Sara was in the kitchen getting herself a glass of water when she heard Mila come out of the bathroom. When Sara walked back into the bedroom, she was greeted with the sight of Mila rubbing her hair dry with a towel.

“Woah. I never realized you had an undercut,” Sara blurted out.

Mila’s hand went to the back of her head. “Oh yeah. How does it look? I got it a few weeks ago actually. I’m still not used to it yet. It feels like a part of my head is naked haha.”

“No no it looks really cool! I’m jealous actually. You pull it off so well” 

Mila blushed at Sara’s compliment and bashfully looked away.

_Wow I didn’t think she’d be the type to get so easily embarrassed,_ Sara thought.

“Well… we should probably get to bed. Our fathers want to meet with us at 2 tomorrow to plan out how we spend our days,” explained Mila.

Sara was mentally screaming. _Santo Dio. Does this girl still not realize there’s only one bed._

“Ok… but what are we going to do about our uh… sleeping situation?” asked Sara nervously.

Mila looked at her as if she was crazy. “What do mean? Just sleep in the bed of course. What’s the proble- …. oh,”

It seemed to finally dawn on Mila as she took a good look at the **single** king sized bed that sat before them. If it hadn’t been for the uncomfortableness of this situation, Sara would have laughed out loud at Mila’s seemingly impossible level of density.

Mila started again. “Uhm well… I can sleep on the couch if you want. I don’t really mind.”

Sara quickly shook her head “No no! You don’t have to do that, I’d feel bad. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Well then that would make me feel bad,” replied Mila.

The two stood there stiffly for a while during this impasse until Sara broke the silence. “I mean… I don’t mind sharing if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not!” replied Mila quickly. “Nothing weird about it.”

“Right”

Oh it definitely had been made weird whether they wanted it to be or not. Normally two girls sharing a king sized bed would have been perfectly normal. However in this situation where those two girls have only just met and happened to be in a fake arranged engagement with each other, it was far from normal. 

Sara got into bed first and Mila went to shut off the lights, joining her in bed soon after. The two layed next to each other while facing opposite directions. 

A lot of things started to bother Sara as she tried unsuccessfully to fall asleep. Like how after talking to Mila so casually all night, they never did bring up the issue of eventually having to appear in public as a couple, doing couple things. 

Or like how sleeping next to Mila made it feel like she was sleeping next to a human sized frozen water bottle.

\---------------

Mila was used to the weather in Russia. She liked it how it was. Cold and dry. Sleeping next to Sara however, made Mila feel like she was sleeping next to an open oven. Under the covers that two were sharing, Sara was practically radiating heat. 

Mila chose to ignore this difference in temperature and thought about their present situation. They haven’t once addressed the fact they’d have to be mashing their lips together in public in approximately 24 hours. Mila could handle it but what about Sara? How did she really feel about all of this. 

As Mila listened to the sound of Sara’s light breathing and inhaled the lavender shampoo that they both used she gathered up all her courage, turned around and whispered to the girl lying next to her, “Sara, are you still awake?”

Sara answered surprisingly quickly. “Yes Mila? What’s wrong, you cold?”

_Quite the opposite actually._ “Nah. I was just wondering… are you really ok with this fake marriage thing? I mean I’m fine with it if it means helping out our families. And I certainly don’t want things to be weird between us but… if you’re uncomfortable about anything you can just-”

“Mila,” Sara cut in. “Don’t worry. I made this decision willingly, just like you. I want to protect my men anyway I can,” She turned around to face Mila while the moonlight from the window gently illuminated their faces. “To be honest what’s most important to me now is to not mess things up with you. If we’re going to pretend to be married, we should at least be on good terms,” Sara smiled. “Besides, I’d really like to get to know you better.”

Mila was thankful that is was still dark enough in the room to hide her blush. 

“Okay. We should probably get some sleep now. Good night Mila!” Sara said while turning back around.

“Good night, Sara.” 

Mila got very little sleep that night and she had no idea why.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The girls get a little more acquainted with each other ^_^

**Beep Beep Beep. Beep Beep Beep.**

_Ugh what the hell is that._

Sara had never been good with alarms. Actually she was never good at getting up in general. She heard Mila groan and felt the girl roll over to shut off the alarm.

“Sorry Sara. Forgot to tell you I set an alarm,” said Mila, her voice thick with sleep. Sara reached for her phone on the nightstand next to her. 

_Ugh 10am. Ok that’s not even that early but still… I hate alarms._

Sara rubbed her eyes and stretched. “I thought you said we were meeting our fathers at 2. Why so early?”

“Hmmm,” Mila said scratching her head. “I thought we could get breakfast, do you still wanna?”

“Oh. Yeah sure that actually sounds really nice. I’m starving,” Sara grinned.

“Cool. By the way, our fathers got us a new car we can actually drive around. I’ve been itching to try it out,” said Mila mischievously as she walked into the bathroom.

\--------

The car ride there was possibly one of the most terrifying experiences Sara has ever had in her life. She was surprised that her and Mila didn’t die on the way to the diner. Sara reminisced about her childhood and watching Spongebob Squarepants because Mila’s driving quite frankly reminded her of Spongebob’s driving in that they both happened to be allergic to using the brakes. Sara hated driving but promised herself that she would start driving more whenever she was with Mila, which would probably a lot from now on.

It was a little past 11 by the time they walked into the diner. “How’d you find out about this place anyways?” Sara asked.

Mila hmmed. “I’ve been to New York a few times actually. My father used to drag me around on his errands. He took me here once and I just happened to remember where it was.”

“Whaat?! So you’ve been to New York before? I’m so jealous. Isn’t it beautiful here? I’d love to get a chance to explore more of the city soon.” Sara practically beamed. 

Mila smiled gently. “It’s not really my favorite place to be but I’ll get used to it. And sure I wouldn’t mind showing you around. Think of it as our first date,” she winked.

The girls burst out laughing even though Sara was actually more nervous than amused when it came to thinking about how a fake date would be played out. When the waitress came, Mila ordered a coffee and scrambled eggs with homefries. Sara ordered a coffee and a stack of pancakes. Their coffee came first.

“Okay. So I thought we could use this opportunity to talk about... things,” Sara started nervously.

“Good idea,” Mila sipped her coffee.

_Where to start… there’s so many things we have to talk about. Maybe it’s actually best if we just let things happen naturally. Wait… but what is natural in this type of situation? Maybe I’m just overthinking things. What do we even have to do to make it look like we’re a couple? It’ll be hard to maintain a friendship when 50% of the time we’re draped over each other and the other 50% of the time we’re just friends,_ thought Sara. 

Thankfully, their food arrived so quickly that Sara had to wonder if it had even been cooked properly. Her suspicions were proved false as soon as she took a bite of her pancakes.

“Mmmm! How’s your food Mila? These pancakes are to die for!” 

“Hahaha, slow down. I haven’t even tried my food yet give me a second.” Mila shoved a forkful of eggs into her mouth. “Well there’s not much to judge since only an idiot can make bad scrambled eggs but, yeah they’re alright I guess.”

Sara watched Mila eat. _Oh thank God. She has table manners and chews with her mouth closed. That’s good. I don’t think I could ever date someone who chews with their mouth open, even if we’re just pretending._

Mila interrupted her thoughts. “So what were you saying before?”

“Oh. I just thought we should set some ground rules for this whole fake relationship.”

Mila raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Sara continued, “For example, no touching boobs, no tongue kissing, and no grabbing down there.” This made Mila almost spit out her coffee as she started laughing uncontrollably. 

Sara, who was now visibly embarrassed, waited for Mila to stop laughing so she could ask her what was so funny. Sara had thought her requests were reasonable. It took a while for Mila to finally stop and apologize. “Oh man sorry Sara. It’s just that you said that so bluntly,” She was still laughing a little. “Obviously we wouldn’t do that kind of stuff. I think our fathers meant that we just have to publicly announce that we’re engaged and appear in public together.”

_Wow. I really overshot this whole thing huh._

“I mean we would probably have to hold hands a lot and kiss sometimes but other than that, nothing too extreme. And if anyone in either of our mafias were within ear range, we would probably have to talk like a couple,” Mila added.

_Ok nevermind, I wasn’t overshooting at all. Holding hands and kissing was a little embarrassing but still, I guess it’s better than what I originally thought we would have to do._

Mila smirked. “If it makes you feel any better we won’t use our tongues when kissing. That ok with you?”

Sara nodded and Mila grabbed her fork. “Great now that that’s out of the way, I’m stealing some of your pancakes,” said Mila as she ripped out a chunk from Sara’s pancake stack.

“Whoa- Hey! Ok fine, I’ll just take some of your homefries then.” Sara reached across the table and forked a bunch of Mila’s food into her mouth. “Soo how’d you like the pancakes?”

“I’m surprised, they’re actually pretty good. I can see why you made such a fuss about them earlier,” Mila replied.

After they had finished eating, their waitress came and took all the empty plates away while refilling their coffee cups. “Sooo.. it’s pretty convenient that we both speak English pretty well. How’d you learn it?” asked Mila while she sipped her coffee.

“Oh, I watched a lot of American TV shows when I was growing up. Actually that was kind of all I did when I was a kid... I guess I just sort of picked it up the more I watched. How about you?” 

Mila giggled. “That sounds just like you. I learned English because my father insisted it was a useful skill that the future head of the Russian mafia should know. After a few years of intense English classes I finally got the hang of it.”

Now it was Sara’s turn to giggle. “And that sounds just like you.”

Mila raised her eyebrows and smiled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothiiing~” 

The two stayed there for about an hour just talking and getting more acquainted with each other. They talked about everything, yet nothing at the same time and Sara wondered how it was even possible for two people to take such a natural liking to each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I'm just thrilled that anyone would read something that I wrote. Please try to share this around wherever :)


	8. Chapter 8

The meeting with their fathers went pretty much exactly as Mila expected. Going over a guideline of what to do and what not to do. All of things Mila had previously mentioned were discussed, with a few things added in. For the most part all Mila and Sara had to do was act like a couple at all times in public, even if there was no one watching them. However in the special case of there being an audience, Mila’s father or Mr. Crispino would text one of the girls in advance and let them know to be extra careful.

As for how often they should appear in public together, it should be more than a few times a week. Even if it was just taking a walk or going out to buy groceries it would be in their best interest to show their faces together every once in a while. Mila and Sara could go out separately sometimes but not too often. Holidays had to be spent together (especially Valentine’s Day) and whether or not they chose to stay in that day or go out was up to them.

Bodyguards were no longer necessary for Sara, much to Mr. Crispino’s dismay, because it was unlikely for anything to happen to her in one of the most populated cities in the world. Also chances are someone from either mafia would be watching the girls with fascination and doubt. They might be creepy stalkers but they sure as hell wouldn’t let their boss’ daughter or her ‘girlfriend’ die.

The group went around the city hitting each mafia hotspot and introducing the newly ‘engaged’ couple to their men. It was a little funny seeing the look of shock on their faces but other than that the day was pretty boring. For the most part everyone was unusually accepting about this sudden turn of events. Mila just figured they were too surprised to raise any questions. 

By the end of the day, both the Russian and the Italian mafia groups that were stationed in New York City had agreed to remain peaceful with each other for the sake of Mila and Sara’s new relationship. And just like their fathers had predicted, word about the two had spread around like wildfire. Both the fathers had about 100 calls coming in from around the world asking about whether or not the news about Mila and Sara were true. 

\-------

It was about 9 by the time Mila and Sara finally stumbled back into their apartment. “Phewwww. Glad that’s over with,” said Mila as she was taking off her shoes. “I didn’t think the plan would work that well. Everyone bought it so easily.” 

“Haha well we’re lucky all of the men in our mafias are meatheads. They probably heard the words ‘two girls dating’ and short circuited,” laughed Sara.

Mila had to agree with that statement. She sighed thoughtfully. “Yeah but they’re all good guys when you think about it. My father doesn’t let just anyone into our gangs. Accepting something like this so willingly and immediately dropping any of their ill intentions just so we could have a relationship, they're really something else.”

“Same here. They’re all mama’s boys at heart aren’t they?” Sara asked while walking into the kitchen. Mila hmmed out a response before also following her into the kitchen.

Sara clapped two hands together, startling the Russian girl in the process. “We should celebrate. We worked hard today and the fake engagement plan is off to a great start. This calls for… a congratulatory drink!” Sara shouted as she proceeded to open the refrigerator, only to find it completely empty.

Mila rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Have you forgotten that we have yet to do any grocery shopping since we moved in here? Did u expect the drinks to magically appear just because you were in the mood for them?” 

Sara closed the fridge in disappointment. “Ugh. We better go food shopping and stuff tomorrow. I’m really in the mood for wine”

Mila winced at that last statement. Sara gave her a questioning look. “What’s wrong?”

Mila smiled. “Sorry sweetheart, but I prefer vodka.” 

“Of course you do,” Sara said as she rolled her eyes. 

“And of course you love wine,” Mila replied right back, prompting Sara to stick her tongue out at her.

After that exchange the two girls took showers, separately of course, and changed into their pajamas. It was still only a little after 10 by the time they were done so Sara suggested that they watched some TV and Mila agreed.

“Do you have any favorite shows? Or any channel preference?” asked Sara while switching on the TV.

“Nah. I don’t really watch American TV. Just put on whatever you want,” replied Mila. Sara switched to some channel that was showing a movie. Luckily, it was still the beginning of the movie so there was no confusion between the two. Mila didn’t catch the title but it had something to do with a war.

About 10 minutes into the movie, Mila’s phone started blowing up with notifications. All of them were texts from pretty much every one of Mila’s contacts and even some texts from numbers that were not in her contacts. The content of the messages ranged from ‘Is it true?’ to ‘Congratulations!’ to ‘I didn’t think you were this kind of person’. A few of them even contained some Russian slurs that Mila would have found hurtful if she chose to care enough.

One of the texts in particular stood out to Mila. It was from who, according to him, was her ‘boyfriend’, but Mila would only gently describe him as ‘a guy she fucks from time to time’

**Ilya** : So you’re a pussy chaser now bitch?  
**Ilya** : Fucking disgusting. Have fun with the scummy Italians.

_Huh. Oh well. It’s not like I’m missing anything when I’m with you anyways,_ thought Mila. She texted him back:  
**Mila** : Ok bye. I faked every orgasm.

Mila then promptly blocked his number before turning to Sara. “Hey Sara, do you think you could turn to the American news channel?”

“Sure. Is something wrong?” asked Sara. She received the answer to her question when the main headline under the reporters read ‘The Romeo and Juliet of the Italian and Russian Mafias?’. The reporters were babbling on about a new same sex relationship formed between the daughters of the heads of the two largest mafias in the world. 

_I’m gonna go ahead and assume that I’ll probably be labeled as the Romeo_ … thought Mila. 

After switching to both the Russian and the Italian news channels, the girls found out that they also happened to be the main highlight of those news channels that night. That would probably explain why even Mila’s friends back in Russia had found out about this. The fact that the Russian and the Italian mafia existed was no secret to the world. Everyone knew that they existed, they just didn’t do anything about it. So the fact that all of a sudden the world seemed to shift its’ attention to the mafia just because of a new relationship, was more than a little surprising. 

Sara spoke first. “How did word even get out that fast?" She slapped a hand to her forehead. "Are you ok with all of this attention?”

Mila shrugged. “I don’t really mind. I guess we’re a little more popular than we originally thought we would be. The guys we told today probably spread the word about us to everybody they knew, mafia or not. This must be a pretty exciting day for them. It’s not every day they get orders directly from the boss to ‘stop fighting your enemies because my daughter is in love’ ”

Sara laughed. “Who would have known that two of the most powerful mafias in the world loved gossip this much.”

The two went to bed last night relatively unfazed by their abrupt fame. The last thing on Mila’s mind before she fell asleep was how excited she was to go vodka shopping tomorrow.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we finally get to the fake dating stuff ;)

_Mmmmmmffffff. What time is it?_ Sara let out a long yawn and looked at the clock. _God do I love waking up without an alarm._

Mila’s side of the bed was already empty by the time Sara had woken up. She got out of bed, brushed her teeth, washed her face and walked out into the living room where she found Mila watching the TV on mute.

Noticing Sara, Mila gave her a wave. “Hey. Good morning. I woke up about an hour ago and would have made us breakfast but unfortunately, we literally have no food in this house.”

Sara walked over to the couch and plopped down next to Mila. “In that case, we should probably go grocery shopping soon. And by soon, I mean like right now because I’m starving. How fast can you get ready?”

Mila was already up and off the couch. “Give me like 15 minutes.”

 

Sara wasn’t really familiar with this area yet so she had to look up on her phone where the nearest grocery store was. There was a Whole Foods that was about a 10 minute walk away. No need for them to take the car. Besides, the weather was exceptionally nice today for the fall season and Sara thought her and Mila would enjoy the walk. After running over the directions with Mila, the pair headed out of their home.

The two were almost on their way out of the apartment lobby when they were greeted with the sound of a lot of voices. Mila gave Sara a questioning look and cracked the door open just enough for them to see what was going on outside without being detected. Sara peeked outside and was beyond astonished to see about 100 people swarming the sidewalk and street next to their door. About a half of them were obviously members of her Italian mafia and the other half of them were clearly from the Russian mafia. And from what Sara could tell, there was a decent amount of American paparazzis mixed in the crowd too. 

_Wh-What the hell? They’re probably here to catch a glimpse of me and Mila but… why are there so many of them?_ Sara wondered.

“What do we do? Should I call the men we have stationed in the basement?” asked Sara.

Mila hmmed and shrugged. “Not necessary. We just do what we’re supposed to do I guess.” 

Mila grabbed Sara’s hand, intertwined their fingers, which elicited a tiny gasp from Sara, and walked out the door. As soon as the two walked out holding hands, the mass of people stopped all motion. They remained silent, in shock probably, for a while before bursting into a roar of questions and comments. Sara couldn’t really understand any of them because so many of them were talking at the same time, but she could tell that they were really enthusiastic about her and Mila finally making their public debut.

Sara turned to look at the Russian girl and was a little relieved to see her staring right back at her with a stunned expression on her face. Mila leaned down and whispered to Sara, the gesture getting a lot of reactions from the crowd, “I’ll lead the way, just hold on tight and try not to pay any attention to them.”

Still holding Sara’s hand, Mila began to push her way through the crowd. A dozen camera flashes went off and more than a hundred mobster eyes were on the two. By the time Mila and Sara were able to make their way out of the horde, Sara felt like all of her energy had been drained for the day. Still, the two kept walking hand in hand towards the grocery store and much to the girls' discomfort, the crowd continued to follow behind them.

_Mila’s hand is actually… really soft. And really cold. I hope she doesn’t think my hand is too warm._

While this whole situation was overwhelming her, Sara couldn’t help but find it to be a little amusing at the same time. “Wanna give our fans a little show?” smirked Sara.

“What is that supposed to mean?” chuckled Mila. Sara answered by momentarily letting go of the taller girl's hand and giving Mila’s ass a playful slap. The crowd exploded with wolf whistles as Mila, now clearly flustered, turned to look at the crowd and then back at Sara who was holding back a laugh. “I thought you said no touching down there.”

Sara giggled and grabbed a hold of Mila’s hand again. “Yeah I said no grabbing, I never said no slapping.” 

Mila sighed and let loose the smile that she was holding back. “If you ignore those screeching monkeys behind us, it really is a beautiful day isn’t it?” Sara had to agree, it was a beautiful day. She couldn’t complain either because she was finally getting her much desired Manhattan sightseeing time.

 

After the 10 minute walk, the two finally arrived at the Whole Foods. One of the clerks, after seeing the huge mob behind Mila and Sara, asked the men to wait outside. Surprisingly, they cooperated and the pair was able to shop in peace. Mila filled the cart with mostly cooking ingredients while Sara occasionally added things that she saw and wanted to their pile. They left the supermarket with a few bags and stopped by a liquor store on the way home. The people following them, who were once again asked to wait outside, looked in through the window.

Inside the store, Sara and Mila went their separate ways and carefully chose what they wanted. Sara picked up a few bottles of her favorite red wine and a bottle of rum while Mila chose two bottles of whiskey and two bottles of different branded vodka. When it was time to ring up their purchase, the cashier asked for ID. 

“Shit…. you’re gonna have to get this one for me Sara. I forgot the drinking age in America is different,” Mila said bashfully while scratching her head and looking away.

Sara pulled out her ID and handed it to the cashier. “Why? How old are you?”

“19.” Mila replied. 

_Huh. I did not expect to be older than her._ “Well then I guess we’re lucky I’m 21 or else we wouldn’t be able to support our alcoholism,” Sara said jokingly. Mila just rolled her eyes and smiled.

 

The walk back to their apartment was pretty much the same except instead of holding hands, Sara and Mila were now holding heavy grocery bags. Sara felt slightly disappointed but she didn’t know why.

Even after reaching their apartment, the pair’s new posse was still as restless as ever. They began crowding the two, barely giving them enough space to open the door. Sara shot a look at Mila, who looked absolutely done with their shit. It didn’t even surprise Sara when Mila started barking out orders to crowd. “Do you have any idea how rude it is to stalk two girls all day and not even hold open the door for them when their hands are full? A little help would be nice instead of just watching us.”

The pack went silent for a second and they began to backup a little bit while two of the men that looked like they were part of the Russian mafia emerged from the mass and held open the door to the lobby. Mila went ahead inside and Sara lingered back a little to offer a few thank yous before joining Mila in the elevator. 

When the girls finally walked inside their apartment and locked the door, they both let out a sigh of relief, looked at each other, and burst out laughing. 

“Can you believe that? There were so many of them! I feel like a celebrity,” Sara said.

“That was insane, they were being total creeps. Let’s hope it’s not always like that,” replied Mila. Sara walked over to the window and looked down. “Oh my God they’re still down there. How much trouble do you think we would get in if we poured a bucket of water on them from here?”

Mila, who was now in the kitchen replied, “Probably a lot. Which is why I suggest we forget about them for a while and pop open our newly purchased alcohol.”

Sara raised one of her eyebrows. “Uhh it’s still like, the middle of the day. Isn’t that a little too early to be drinking?” 

Mila looked like a puppy who had just been denied a treat. Sara sighed, “Ok fine. I’m in. But first we have to finish unpacking the groceries.”

Once they were done with that, the girls changed into their pajamas, turned on the TV to a Russian soap opera channel, and got drunk. Sara had to admit that a drunk Mila Babicheva was one of the most entertaining things she had seen in a while.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's a lil short but next chapter will be pretty long :)

Mila woke up the next morning with the taste of vodka and whiskey still in her mouth. She usually never gets hungover but yesterday she went a little bit overboard. 

_Ugh how much did I drink yesterday_ , Mila wondered. She vaguely recalled at sometime during the night her and Sara had a contest to see who could down a glass of rum the fastest. The first 3 times were a tie. Mila grimaced at the memory and slowly got up to try and go to the bathroom.

_Oookay here we go…. Uurrf… never mind._ Mila laid back down after her attempt to get up resulted with her head splitting in half. She gave up at any further attempts for the moment and looked at Sara who was still sleeping next to her. Mila was always used to hanging out with boys back in Russia. This was the first time she ever really had a friend that was a girl. It was… refreshing. And it was a hell of a good time, or maybe that was just Sara.

As if she could tell Mila was thinking about her, Sara started to move around in bed. Eventually, her eyes opened and she let out a groan. “Santo Dioooo. Where am I? Why is it so bright in here?”

“Uh Sara. All the lights are off and the curtains are closed. There is literally no light in here”

Sara grumbled in reply as she put the covers over her head. “Stillll though... Ughhh my head is cracking open. How you holding up Mila?”

Mila wanted to laugh but that would probably hurt her head. “Same here. I vote we stay in for today. It’s raining anyways, I don’t really want to go out,” Sara gave her a thumbs up from underneath the cover. Mila settled on staying in bed for as long as her bladder could hold, which was probably another 30 minutes top, and picked up her phone. 

Mila scrolled through the news feed for a while until one of the articles caught her attention. It was from a pretty popular news website and it had Sara’s name in the title. Out of curiosity she clicked on the article, and probably the funniest thing Mila had ever seen was displayed before her eyes.

There was a picture of Sara buying her and Mila’s bottles of liquor the other day (they bought A LOT). However, you couldn’t see Mila in that particular shot so it kinda just looked like Sara was buying a horde of drinks for herself. The title of the article was ‘How is Sara Crispino Expected to Control the Italian Mafia if She Can’t Even Control Her Drinking Problem?’

Mila had to use every bit of her self control to prevent herself from laughing obnoxiously after seeing that headline. “Oh man. Sara you should probably see this,” said Mila while still stifling back a laugh. 

Sara emerged from under the covers and rubbed her eyes. She winced at the phone’s light, even though it was on the lowest brightness setting, and stared at the screen. Sara huffed dramatically and covered her face. “Ughhhhh that is so embarrassing. Seriously, half of those drinks aren’t even mine. What the hell were those damn paparazzis thinking when they came up with this shit.”

“Pfffft. Considering how much you drank last night they might as well have been all yours. Damn, I think we already drank through all our supplies. We might need to go back to the liquor store to get some more pretty soon,” Mila replied.

This got an objectionable reaction from Sara. “Nooooooo more drinking for a while. Geez how can you even think about alcohol at a time like this?”

Mila sighed and gave Sara a small smile. “Still though, I’m impressed. You’re a pretty good drinker. Wouldn’t have expected all that endurance from someone as small as you.”

Sara smirked. “Ohhh really~ Would you say I’m as good at drinking as a Russian?”

“ _Almost_ as good” Mila eyed her back.

The two spent the entire day staying in bed watching TV. In actuality though the TV was only background noise because Mila and Sara talked through the entire day, only getting up a few to times to use the bathroom or to warm up their newly bought microwavable pizza. They talked about what their lives were like back in their home countries, what their hobbies were, and what kind of music they listened to. 

Mila learned that Sara never really talked to anyone outside of her close mafia members and her family, she read books in her freetime, and her favorite song was **All I Want is You** by **Barry Louis Polisar**. Sara learned that Mila was a typical mobster punk that raised havoc for the Russian police with her friends, she practiced her electric guitar in her free time, and her favorite song was **Paranoid Android** by **Radiohead**. 

They brushed over some of the more painful memories of their past but other than that, Mila and Sara attempted to express their whole lives to one another in just this short day. It was the first time Mila could say she genuinely felt at ease in her life. Something about talking to Sara was so calming and therapeutic. Mila hoped that the Italian girl felt the same way when talking with her too. 

Right before the pair went to bed, Mila received a text on her phone from her father. 

**Papuchka** : Be prepared to make an impression tomorrow. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Give Mila and Sara's favorite songs a listen please ;) They're not my personal favorites but they're still pretty good songs


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter's a lil long, but it's cute. Have fun

“Who was that from?” Sara asked Mila after hearing her phone go off.

“It’s from my father. Hold up, I’ll show you what this is all about once he explains what’s going on. I’m pretty sure this involves you too,” Mila replied while texting her father back.

After a few minutes Mila finished with her text conversation and gave out a long exhale. “Here take a look,” She passed the phone to Sara. “Can you believe it?!”

Sara squinted her eyes to see Mila’s screen in the dark room

 **Papuchka:** Be prepared to make an impression tomorrow

 **Mila:** What is that supposed to mean?

 **Papuchka:** Some very important guests will be observing you two 

**Mila:** So? What do you want us to do

 **Papuchka:** Just holding hands this time won’t be enough. I trust you’ll know what to do to convince them further. Good night.

A lot of things ran through Sara’s head after reading that exchange but the only thought she managed to articulate to Mila was, “Papuchka?”

The redhead flushed completely. “That’s the only thing you have to say?!....That’s- that’s what i call my Dad in Russian…”

Sara giggled. “Well aside from that, I guess we have no choice but to go out tomorrow then. Know any good restaurants?”

“Yeah I know a really good outdoors place,” Mila paused. “But wait, what are we gonna do about the ‘convince them’ part?”

“Uhhhh let’s cross that bridge when we get to it. I’m tired let’s just think about it in the morning,” Sara said while lying back down. She heard Mila mutter out a whatever before following suit.

 

The next morning as promised, the two got ready for their first important ‘date’ and left their apartment at about lunchtime. Exiting the building today was just as hectic as the first time they did. Same amount of people surrounded them, give or take a few, and they were just as rowdy as before. Fortunately today Mila and Sara decided to take the car which would definitely make it harder for their viewers to follow them.

It was only after the two had walked up to their car that was parked across the street that Sara noticed the array of intimidating gentlemen. They weren’t part of the usual mass of people. Instead, there were about 10 of them in total that were leaning on their individual black cars with an intimidating aura surrounding them as they looked on at Sara and Mila.

Sara instantly recognized about 4 of them as a few of the head gang leaders under her father’s control that were stationed in New York. Mila also seemed to notice them and she whispered to Sara, “I know some of these guys. A few of the ones I recognize control some of our gangs around this area. I’m assuming you know some of the Italian ones too?”

Sara nodded and the two proceeded to get into their car. After getting into the passenger seat followed by Mila driving off, Sara instantly regretted her decision of allowing Mila to be the one to drive them again.

 _Oh geez. How could I forget that Mila drives like she’s trying to shake off another car that’s tailing her._ But when Sara looked at the rear view mirror and realized that all 10 of the black cars she previously saw were now following them, her thoughts instantly changed. _Maybe Mila’s driving skills will actually come in handy now that we quite literally have cars that are tailing us._

“Uhhh Mila… they’re following us,” Sara said nervously.

Mila looked at her side mirror and bit her lip. “Shit. Well my father did say we were gonna have some important people watching us. And I don’t know about you but they looked pretty important to me. Hope you don’t mind a little company on our date.”

 

When they arrived at the fancy restaurant, which had a nice view of the Hudson River, the waiter seated Sara and Mila in an outdoor section. The gentlemen who came to observe the two on their date also got a table at the restaurant and surprisingly, they all decided to sit together. Sara imagined that the waiter must have shit himself after having to serve a table with 10 of the most threatening men he’d probably ever seen.

In fact, Sara almost shit herself when one of the men got up from his table and walked over to them. He gripped onto their table with both of his thumbs on top and the rest of his fingers under the table. “I apologize if me and my friends have disturbed you ladies. We don’t mean to come off as rude but we wanted to assess the situation ourselves. I hope you’re not bothered by our observing and continue to act the way you normally do.”

Sara and Mila nodded. “Have a good evening ladies,” said the man and rejoined his group. 

_That was weird. I didn’t think they would approach us. It’s not like he said anything that was important anyways. There was really no reason for that whole confrontation,_ thought Sara irritably.

“Oops,” Mila said after she dropped her fork and went under the table to pick it up.

“Clutz,” Sara teased. Almost immediately after that Mila started typing away at something on her phone. Sara just shifted her attention to the beautiful view of the water and chose not to address the fact that Mila was acting a little strange. 

“Hey Sara look at this hilarious picture that my friend just sent me of his cat,” Mila said while holding up her phone. Sara took a glance at her screen and realized that it was not actually a picture Mila was showing her, but something the girl had just typed up in her notes.

_Sara, I just checked and there’s a microphone under the table. I’m guessing he put it there when he came over here (Don’t try to remove it, they’ll get really angry). They’re using ear pieces to listen in on our conversation and they’re probably gonna be listening to us the whole time. We gotta put on a show for them so talk like we’re a couple and don’t act suspicious._

_P.S. I just told you that I was showing you a picture of a cat and they can hear everything we’re saying sooooo act like I just showed you a picture of a cat._

 

Sara took a moment to process the entirety of this ridiculous situation before fake laughing at the alleged cat picture. Taking a glance in the direction of their observers’ table, Sara could confirm that they were in fact wearing earpieces. 

_Ooookay. Time to get in character._ “Mila darling~~ you’re too sweet sometimes. You always know how to make me smile.”

Mila was visibly thrown off by Sara’s quick change from 0 to 100 on the romance meter. _You better watch out Mila,_ Sara thought. _I’ll be giving my 100%_

Sara gave her best pair of lovey-dovey eyes in Mila’s direction and winked. Sara swore she saw the Russian girl blush a little. Mila’s embarrassment was short-lived however as she shot back a smug look at Sara. 

“Honey~, I don’t really like sitting across from you. Sure it’s nice looking at your beautiful face but I’d like to be a bit closer if you don’t mind,” Mila said while picking up her chair and plopping it down right next to Sara’s chair so that they were now sitting side by side. 

_Oh she’s good,_ Sara thought while trying to hide her faint blush with the menu. Although unspoken, both the girls mutually and internally decided they would make it into a sort of competition as to who would do a better job at romancing it up. Sara thought this would be somewhat fun. The waiter came eventually to take their orders. Sara ordered penne alla vodka and Mila ordered some kind of steak. “Oh and a bottle of champagne please,” Mila added. The waiter wrote everything down and scurried away, leaving the two alone again. Well, technically alone. 

“Are you cold Sara? You shouldn’t have worn a skirt. Sorry, I meant to tell you we were eating next to the Hudson. It gets pretty cold near the water,” Mila said while beginning to rub her hand up and down Sara’s thigh in an attempt to warm it up. Flustered, Sara turned to look at the table of men who had followed her here. They were all watching intently with wide eyes. 

_...Very nice touch Mila, but I can do you one better._ Sara grabbed Mila’s hand, much to the girl’s surprise, and intertwined their fingers while holding their hands at their face level. “Actually Mila, I’m more concerned about you,” Sara used her best ‘concerned mother’ voice. “You always feel so cold, even in bed. Here, let me warm you up a bit.” 

Sara gave the back of Mila’s hand a little kiss lasting about 3 seconds. Mila looked like a deer in headlights. Sara giggled and while Mila didn’t say anything, she didn’t pull her hand back until their food came a little while later. 

When the food was placed before Sara, she completely forgot about impressing their spectators and focused solely on how good the food looked. If there was one thing Sara got excited about it was food. The first bite of her pasta was euphoric. “Oh man, Milaaa. You have to try some of my penne. It’s amazing.”

Mila laughed. “Pfffttahahaha! What’s with that face Sara? It looks like you’re about to cry.”

“That’s because I really looove pasta,” Sara answered back while taking another bite. It reminded her of home. Mila sighed and took a bite of Sara’s pasta. 

“Damn you’re right. It tastes pretty good,” Mila cut off piece of her steak “Here, try some of mine.”

Sara and Mila continued the meal with enthusiasm and conversation, occasionally having bites of each other’s food. Sara realized how long it had actually been since she shared a meal with someone. As their lunch date went on, all the fakeness and nervousness they had at the beginning of the date melted away. Drinking their champagne as the day went on, the girls easily forgot they were even being watched. Slipping into conversations like these were now common for the girls. 

About an hour later the waiter interrupted their trance to ask if they wanted desert. Sara asked for a scoop strawberry ice cream and Mila asked for a scoop of vanilla.

 _Oh shit. I got a little carried away there. I totally forgot about those guys that were watching us. Hope we didn’t do anything suspicious…_ Sara took a glance at Mila’s face and could tell Mila was basically thinking the same thing. For the past hour they hadn’t done anything particularly romantic that Sara could think of, besides losing themselves in conversation. They would have to make up for it somehow.

Sara was still trying to come up with ideas when their desert arrived. The two ate their ice cream in an awkward silence.

“Want to try some of my ice cream Mila? Not sure if you like strawberry though,” offered Sara.

Mila stared at her for a few seconds before suddenly lighting up. “Sure I’ll try some.”

Mila leaned in and pressed her lips right against Sara’s. 

_Vanilla._

It took a whole 5 seconds for Sara to recover from shock and realize that she was kissing Mila. On the lips. While 10 grown men watched.

Mila drew back and grinned. “Hmmmm. The strawberry’s a little too sweet for me.”

Sara couldn’t do anything but stare at her. She was still processing what had just happened. Sure Sara was expecting a kiss between the two of them to happen eventually, she just didn’t think it would happen like that. Sara took a look at the mafia members and could tell that they had definitely saw the kiss. She had to admit it was pretty funny watching 10 thugs flush with embarrassment at the sight of the two girls that they were watching all day share a kiss.

Mila and Sara finished their ice cream, payed the bill and walked out of the restaurant. It was actually a pretty enjoyable day for the two despite the circumstances.

“Excuse me ladies. May we have a word?” Their spectators stopped the two before they got in their car. 

_If they say the word ‘ladies’ one more time I’m gonna kick them in their balls._

One of the Russian gang leaders was the one to speak for the group. “Again, we’re sorry for interfering with your evening like this but it was very necessary. Based on today I think we all-” he gestured to the other gang leaders, “are convinced that you two have a very healthy relationship. It’s been a while since any of us have seen the kind of natural chemistry that you girls have.” He smiled. “We’ll try our best to get along with the Italians now Ms Babicheva. Don’t want to risk the two of you having to separate because of us.”

Mila looked stunned. “Uhhh ok. Thanks I guess?” She looked back to Sara. “We better get going now.” The two got in the car and drove off and this time, with no cars following behind them.

After driving for a while, Mila let out a long breath. “Phewwww. Didn’t think it would actually go that well! Mission accomplished Sara!” Mila held out her hand for a high-five which Sara glady returned.

Relief flooded Sara. “If we keep this up, our members will have no choice but to keep the peace between each other!”

Mila nodded in agreement. “Soooo. How was it?” When Sara didn’t immediately answer, Mila clarified, “...the kiss I mean… not too sloppy I hope?”

Sara wanted to comment on how it was very sudden, but Mila looked too adorably sheepish asking for her kiss rating so Sara decided not to include any negative comments. “It was fine. Not too bad at all actually.”

Mila perked up and puffed out her chest. “Yeahhh I do get that I’m a great kisser a lot.”

Sara laughed. “I seeee. Then I guess I should consider to be honored,” This made Mila stick out her tongue.

A few moments passed before either of them spoke again. “Just to be clear, there was nothing behind that kiss. Just a friend on friend kiss. No falling in love with each other, all right?” Mila asked.

“Right!” Sara repeated. “I couldn’t agree more. Let’s be mature about this. Our main focus is stopping all our fellow mafia members from dying. It’s fine if we’re friends but nothing more than that.”

Mila nodded vigorously. The two continued on with their car ride home and talked about what plans they should make for tomorrow. But plans aside, so far Sara has learned that every part of Mila’s body was cold… except for her lips. They were indisputably warm and welcoming. Just like her personality. Maybe that’s what made Sara so comfortable with her presence.


	12. Chapter 12

The next day, Mila woke up with her new roomate nowhere to be found, which is exceptionally weird because Mila usually always wakes up earlier than Sara. She searched around the apartment for a while before finding a sticky-note attached to the fridge.

_Mila,  
Sorry for not letting you know in advance but I just remembered I had some shopping I wanted to do! It’s pretty boring so I didn’t want to wake you up and drag you around all day. Go ahead and take the day off ;) I’ll be back sometime around 1 or 2._

Mila wouldn’t have minded tagging along behind Sara for the day but she was grateful that Sara didn’t wake her up. Mila was feeling emotionally and physically drained from yesterday. Soon after reading Sara’s note, all of the events from the previous evening came flooding back into Mila’s memories. Most significantly, the kiss.

_Oh God… I hope she wasn’t angry after I just suddenly kissed her like that. I kinda had to though. Otherwise those gang leaders wouldn’t have believed us,_ Mila thought. The last thing she wanted was for things to be awkward between her and Sara. _No no. She said it herself. She was fine with it. But still… I hope I wasn’t a bad kisser._

Mila’s overthinking was interrupted by her phone sounding off. It was a text from her father.

**Papuchka:** I heard the news. Good work yesterday.

_So glad I could impress you._ Mila rolled her eyes and looked at the clock. _Oh it’s already 1:15. Sara should be back soon._ She opened the fridge and checked around for something to eat. Instantly, Mila’s eyes were drawn to a container filled with strawberries. Mila wasn’t too fond of sweet things so she just assumed Sara bought those for herself to enjoy.

_Strawberries huh? That reminds me… The kiss yesterday. Sara tasted like strawberries._ Mila smiled at the memory.

Her phone buzzed again. She swore if it was from her father again she was really gonna give him a piece of her mind. Mila grabbed her phone and was surprised to see that it was actually a text from Sara.

**Sare-uh:** Omw back! You want anything from Chipotle?

Maybe a little too excited at the promise of food, she eagerly texted Sara her order and patiently waited for the Italian girl to come home.

\---------------------------------

A little more than two months had passed since Mila and Sara declared to their respective mafias, and unintentionally the general public in the process, that they were dating. Over time, less and less people started following them around. Of course they had a few dedicated fans and skeptics that visited them every once in a while, but other than that their lives were significantly less hectic. Hopefully people were finally convinced about the relationship status between the two girls.

Their fathers were actually pretty encouraging. ‘Keep up the good work’ was a phrase that Mila received all too often from the two, much to her annoyance. Mila’s father actually went back to Russia after the first week. She didn’t blame him though, it would look bad if the head of the Russian mafia didn’t actually reside in Russia. After a lot of convincing, Sara’s father also left for Italy around last week. Mila didn’t get why but Mr. Crispino was extremely overprotective of Sara. She decided it was best not to pry.

As for Mila and Sara’s friendship over the past months, the two became inseparable. Not only did Mila genuinely enjoy spending time with Sara, but she also felt a lot less anxious going on fake dates with her. As promised, the two girls went out together a few times a week and acted like a couple. A lot more hand-holding and fake flirting had taken place but Mila didn’t mind and she was sure that Sara didn’t either. They even shared a few more kisses on occasions when they had a special guest to impress. 

Mila couldn’t complain about their current lifestyle. Her and Sara were basically on an all-expenses-paid vacation in New York and all they had to do was act like they were dating. Mila was having fun. Before she met Sara, the Russian girl had hated New York. She was obsessed with her small group of trouble-making friends and her care-free lifestyle back in Russia. It was all thanks to Sara that Mila got to see New York City in a different light. Although Sara had no idea about any of the main attractions in the city, she enthusiastically followed Mila wherever she took her. It was refreshing seeing someone so excited about exploring the very places Mila had once thought of as a waste of time. 

Today, Mila had went out alone to visit an old acquaintance that moved from Russia to Queens a few years back. The reunion had went particularly well with her friend and it was nostalgic to see him again. Although he was the same age as Mila, he had already gotten married and his wife was pregnant. Mila thought it was funny because back in the day all this guy ever cared about was fucking any chick he could get his hands on and now here he was, head over heels in love with his wife. It made Mila a little jealous. She’d never really been in love before.

On her way back home, Mila was in an especially good mood when a lightbulb went off in her head. She immediately texted Sara.

**Mila:** Sara! I have a greaaat idea for plans tonight.

**Sare-uh:** And what would that be?

**Mila:** You and me. Drunk as fuck in the apartment, with a bunch of rental horror movies

**Sare-uh:** Hmmmm. I LOVE that idea ;)

**Mila:** Great! I’ll pick up the drinks and the movies!

**Sare-uh:** Uhhh did you forget you’re still underage in America?

**Mila:** Right -_- I’ll leave that task up to you then. But leave the movies to me, I have really good taste I promise.

**Sare-uh:** Don’t disappoint me! See you in 20.

Mila smiled and started to walk a little faster. She learned that in these past two months, spending a night drinking with Sara was one of her favorite things in the whole world. Maybe even more than she enjoyed her life back in Russia. Maybe...


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hah. Did you think I would forget about Mickey ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: some of the movies I listed in this chapter are suuuuper fucked up. I totally recommend them though if you're into that kinda horror stuff.

“I’m baack~” Sara heard Mila say as she walked into the apartment. 

Sara practically jumped off the couch and tackled Mila in a neck hug. “It’s about time! I’m super ready to start our intoxicated horror movie marathon. Lemme see which movies you got.”

Mila grinned. “Oh you definitely won’t be disappointed. I stopped by this really cool old DVD store. They literally have _any_ and _every_ cult classic you could think of. Watch out, I got some normal horror ones in there but I also got some really fucked up ones.”

Sara opened the bag Mila had been carrying and looked through the movies she rented. _Cannibal Holocaust, The Blair Witch Project, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Human Centipede, Hostel, The Conjuring 1 and 2, 120 Days in Sodom_ and a few more.

Sara had pretty much seen all of them except _120 Days in Sodom_ but she had to admit, Mila had really good taste. Sara held up the DVD for _120 Days in Sodom_ and asked, “What’s this one about? All the others are really good but I’ve never heard of this one.”

“Oh mann. That one’s basically like the most twisted porn film ever made. Like if you thought _Cannibal Holocaust_ was bad, this one had me sick to my damn stomach. Plus it’s in Italian so I thought it’d make you feel right at home.” Mila winked.

“Haha. Then I guess we’re watching that one first.” replied Sara.

Mila gave Sara a thumbs up and walked over to the kitchen. “What kind of drinks did you buy?”

Sara thought for a moment. “Ummm your usuals and and my usuals. Oh and _a lot_ of bacardi.”

“Niiice. Ok I’m gonna go take a shower and then we can start. You wanna set everything up?” Mila asked.

“Sure,” _This is gonna be so fun,_ Sara thought. _Mila always makes things more fun._

 

Once Mila was done, she plopped down on the couch right next to Sara and poured their first of many drinks for that night. Sara started the movie and immediately got nostalgic when she heard the Italian dialogue. 

About 20 minutes into the movie Sara began to realize the shit she got herself into. As Mila had promised, it was certainly very fucked up. She was worried about what else could possibly happen in the movie to make it worse.

 

When they finished the movie, Sara was seriously contemplating her morals. Mila looked in her direction, “Sooo, what did you think of it? Pretty nasty right.”

The Italian girl was at a loss for words. “Uhhh was that even legal?” Mila laughed and Sara continued “I mean in terms of spooking the hell out of me it certainly worked but, man… that was just so messed up. I feel like even if I talk a shower I won’t ever get clean after watching that.”

“Yeah it really stuck with me for a while,” Mila said as she got up to put in another movie. “Up next isss Cannibal Holocaust! You said you watched it before right?”

Sara nodded. At this point in the night Sara and Mila were already pretty drunk, but that wasn’t gonna stop them from getting even more drunk. This time they talked through most of the movie. Their conversation was pretty raw and unfiltered, mostly contributed to the alcohol but also because the two have been getting a lot closer lately. 

When the movie got to the part where the characters ripped apart a live turtle (no joke the actors actually had to rip apart a live fucking turtle on camera), the two girls were pretty shit-faced. Sara had a lot of trouble distinguishing her thoughts from things she actually said out loud. It looked like Mila was also struggling to act sober. And they were only on their second movie. So much for a horror movie marathon, at this rate they wouldn’t even be conscious to put in the next movie.

Sara liked getting drunk; she liked the feeling of bliss and power that came along with it. However, she did not like getting wasted. Whenever Sara got wasted, which was not often, old memories always seemed to resurface and once she started to think of them she could never stop until it completely devoured her. Unfortunately for Sara, she was very wasted right now.

“Awww man haha. Mickey would have hated this movie. He was always such a baby when it came to these kinds of things,” Sara said with the eloquence of a very very intoxicated girl.

Mila turned her attention to Sara and looked at her as if she just started talking about math. “Huh? Who’s Mickey? You never mentioned him before.”

The girl instantly went pale. _I did not just say that. I cannot believe I just said that. Get ahold of yourself Sara. I thought you were finally over him._ “Ah- No one really… sorry that just kinda slipped out.” 

Mila was not convinced. “What? C’mon just spill it Saraaa. Was he your ex or something?” When Sara didn’t respond to her, Mila started to get a little offended. “What? You don’t want to tell me? I thought we were starting to bond here!” 

_Please don’t push Mila. Please… I don’t want to remember._

“C’mon now. Don’t hold back on me,” said a still drunk Mila.

“Mickey was- he was my brother okay? He was my twin brother. My inseparable best friend,” Sara spat out. She was now significantly more sober and desperately trying to control her thoughts and memories that were spiraling out of control.

Mila spoke again. “Ohhhh. See, now that wasn’t so hard was i- wait… what do you mean by, he ‘was’?”

Sara barely whispered. “He died when we were 10.” 

A long silence ensued after that statement.

“Sara… I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

Sara obviously did not want to keep going but the words just kept flowing out like she’d been holding them back all these years. “Someone had a bone to pick with our father and entered our house. He was a good friend of our father’s so we didn’t think much of it at first but… Mickey told me to stay in the room so I did and-” at this point tears started pouring down her cheeks. “-and I heard a gunshot and I ran out to see what happened but… it was already too late. It was one bullet but it looked like a damn bloodbath.”

Sara completely shut out the world. Nothing else was happening now except that one memory. It kept playing itself over and over again in Sara’s head and she was starting to lose her sanity. 

_Enough of this, Sara thought. It’s always like this whenever I drink too much. Mickey… Mickey please, leave me alone. I’m so tired of seeing your face like that. Why? What’s wrong with me?_

Sara picked up her head, tears still dripping off of her face, and looked at Mila who seemed to have snapped out of her drunken state and was now completely sober. No one but Mila was here to witness the eruption of feelings that Sara had tried but failed to suppress all these years. The Russian girl gave Sara a comforting look and reached out to stroke her back.

She continued. “I don’t know how to explain it but, I felt him die Mila. He was my best friend. We were always gonna be together. I don’t know how I’m going to live a life without him. But I- I just want to get over it. It’s been 11 years already. Why won’t I let myself forget him?”

To Sara, Mickey was everything. _She_ was his everything. How was she supposed to live on without her other half. Where was she supposed to find anyone that she cared about like him or someone that cared about her like him. 

“Maybe you shouldn’t ever forget him,” Mila softly replied. Sara looked at her in surprise and Mila continued. “Errr- well I mean I’m not really good at giving advice, especially on this kind of topic, but that’s my honest opinion. I don’t know anything about your brother Mickey but I can tell that he meant the world to you. And if someone’s that important to you, it’s best not to forget about them.”

Sara looked like she was about to cry again when Mila added, “I’m not saying you should think about him all the time. Move on with your life with him in your heart. And any good memories you have with him, make sure to hold onto them tight.” she flashed a smile.

_Mila…_

Very clumsily, Sara threw her arms around Mila and hugged her with all the energy she had left. “Thank you.”

Mila hugged her back. After a while she asked, “You still wanna watch _The Blair Witch Project_?” Sara muffled out an "mmhhmmm" from Mila’s chest. 

For the rest of the night, Sara and Mila sat on the couch shoulder to shoulder watching _The Blair Witch Project_. About 10 minutes in, Mila started nodding off and by the 20 minute mark she was completely passed out asleep on Sara’s lap. 

In all the time that Sara had been dealing with these problems, nothing could ever get her to calm down. But now here was Mila, and she was able to calm Sara down by doing nothing in particular. What was it about Mila that made Sara feel so comfortable and happy all the time? She hasn’t felt like this in years.

Sara looked down fondly at the girl in her lap who was now lightly snoring and started to stroke her auburn hair. 

_Mila Babicheva, I have never met anyone like you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not joking, watch these movies at your own risk


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now we get to learn a little about Mila

Mila woke up with a huge hangover, as expected. She could barely even open her eyes for fear that the light would ultimately burn her retinas.

_Ewwww. My head feels like someone poured hand sanitizer in it._ Mila moved her head to the side a bit. _Wait a sec… where am i?_

She forced her eyes open and took a look around. She was on the living room couch, completely spread out with her head resting on what she assumed to be a pillow. 

_Geez I must have passed out here. Note to self, blackout drinking is now prohibited,_ Mila thought. She looked up and was more than a little startled to find Sara sleeping in a sitting position as she leaned back on the couch. Not only that, but the pillow Mila thought she had been using was actually Sara’s lap. 

Mila quickly sat up, but gently enough to not wake the sleeping girl in the process. Looking once more at Sara, all the events from the night before came flooding back into Mila’s memories. Most significantly, that extensive talk about Sara’s fucked up brother situation.

_Sara…_ Mila felt her chest tighten. She’d never seen the other girl like that before so Mila was caught off guard when she suddenly started pouring out her emotions in a drunken fit. No, the alcohol probably had nothing to do with it. Sara’s been holding this all in for a long time. She was shouldering all this strain by herself for who knows how long and it just so happened that the person she spilled it all out to was Mila.

Of course Mila felt genuine sorrow and tenderness for the girl; she could never imagine what it would emotionally do to someone if they lost their twin. Mila was familiar with death so she could empathize with Sara. She never liked the inconvenience it caused for the living and she never liked the unfairness of it all.

In that moment while sitting on the couch and staring at Sara’s face, Mila remembered her mother. Her beautiful, loving, typical Russian mother who’s hair smelled like orchids all the time.

Her father and mother fell in love at a young age and married right when they turned 18. Even though she was married to the mafia boss, Mila’s mother never associated herself with that kind of business. While she supported her husband’s job fully, she herself got a job as a nurse in a hospital two towns away. Money was obviously never a problem when your family ran the mafia but she insisted that the work kept her busy. She would return from her job at around 8pm everyday so Mila and her father always waited for her to come home so they could eat together as a family.

One day when Mila was around 6 years old, her mother was driving back home from the hospital. She must have been especially excited to eat dinner with her family because she was driving a little faster than usual that day. A large bump in the road caused her to swerve slightly off course, making her car smash into the front of an oncoming truck. She died on impact, and her husband and daughter sat waiting 100 miles away for the sound of her key in the front door.

Mila and her father didn’t hear about the death until the next day. From that point on, everything changed. Mila’s father became closed off and refused to talk about anything related to his wife. Mila, who was just a kid at the time didn’t really know anything about death. All she knew was that she missed her mother and she missed the father that was once kind and open. So Mila grew up without the love of a mother and learned all that she knows today from her buddies in the mafia.

She would never wish for anyone to feel the way she did after losing her mother, especially someone like Sara. Of course their losses were of different people, but all the same, they were someone they both loved. Mila was able to deal with the loss of her mother with the help of her friends and her close family members. She didn’t say, but Mila assumed Sara’s father never let her out of his sight after that incident. She grew up without anyone to talk to about her brother’s death and so the wound her heart festered until it turned into this big mess.

_She’ll be okay now. I think she got it mostly out of her system last night,_ Mila thought. Despite being forced into a fake relationship with this girl, Mila found herself thinking that Sara was now her most important friend. After all the time they spent together it would be impossible to not at least like the girl. And now after hearing Sara’s tragic backstory, she felt like their bond was strengthened a little bit.

Mila glanced at the snoozing girl and hummed. _I should make her some good ass pancakes before she wakes up._

While making said pancakes, the memory of their first kiss popped into Mila’s head. _Strawberries. Maybe I should add some strawberries to the batter._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment bc I have no idea if you people actually like my writing lol


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls spend a day at an art museum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're confused about how much time has passed since each event in the story, just ask.

“Hey Mila wanna go to the MoMa?” Sara asked out of the blue.

Mila looked up from her phone. “The what?”

Sara reached into her purse, pulled out a pamphlet and shoved it into Mila’s face. She started to explain more as Mila began to read the paper. “The Museum of Modern Art. It seems like it would be pretty cool. I heard only the top floors are interesting though. Besides, I’ve never been to an art museum before.”

Sara’s tone was brimming with excitement and even though Mila hadn’t agreed to go with her yet, she could tell that Sara was not taking no for an answer. The Russian girl put on her best thinking face and looked at the pamphlet for a little while longer. “Woahh. They actually have Van Gogh’s Starry Night on display here. Ok I’m convinced, let’s go.”

It’s been about a month since that very memorable movie night the two had shared, all together making their time spent as a fake couple to about 3 months. In the past month, the bond the two shared grew even stronger, if that were possible. After Sara had opened up about her troubled past like that to Mila, it was like the last wall between the two had finally been torn down. 

Their talks became a lot more personal and every fake gesture of love they had to pretend to make in public became a little more genuine each day. New emotions filled both Mila and Sara that neither of them knew what to call. Best friendship? Sisters? Mila had no idea but she had never felt this exposed in her life. Not like it was a bad thing. She felt different about Sara than she had felt about anyone else in her life.

 

The pair decided to take the train to their destination that day because the area in Manhattan where MoMa is located is particularly hard on parking. They entered the museum and payed for their tickets, where they were advised by the cashier that it was best to start their viewing at the top floor. As Mila and Sara made their way to the top floor holding hands, which was now instinctively done by the both of them whenever they appeared in public, a lot of people recognized them.

It’s true that less and less people have been observing them and following them around on their dates now, but that didn’t mean Mila Babicheva and Sara Crispino still weren’t celebrities. The two were on the news from time to time with coverages of how their relationship was going, where they were last spotted, and how they handled the mafia alliances. 

Occasionally they would receive a glance or two from a group of people and hear things like ‘Is that them? It looks like them. Do you want to ask?’ but nobody really came up to bother them because after all, they are of mafia descent. 

After reaching the top floor of the museum, the girls were overwhelmed by the amount of beautiful things displayed. Mila didn’t really know many of the artists, but that didn’t stop her from taking in all the gorgeous art pieces around her. Soon after beginning their viewing, Mila realized that Sara was the type to take a picture of literally everything on her phone. After about the Italian girl's 50th picture out of the 51 paintings they had walked past, Mila decided that it was time to confiscate Sara’s phone.

“Ah- Hey!” Sara exclaimed while reaching back for her phone.

Mila shoved it into her purse. “Jesus, who takes pictures of pictures you weirdo? Just enjoy the art. It’s better looking at it in person than on your phone.” Sara puffed out her cheeks, prompting Mila to roll her eyes in response. “If I get to keep your phone for the rest of time we’re in here, I’ll treat you to dinner tonight.”

Reluctantly, Sara agreed. “Fi~ine. But you gotta let me take pictures of the really famous ones at least.”

Mila raised an eyebrow. “There are more famous ones than Starry Night displayed here? I thought it was just that.”

Sara clasped her hands together. “Oh no! They have a whole section of famous paintings. Vincent Van Gogh, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol… I think they’re on the floor below us actually.”

After walking around some more and occasionally pointing at a painting of someone ugly and saying ‘That’s you’ or pointing at some art piece that was drawn in crayon and saying ‘Some shit you would draw’, the two girls finally arrived at the long awaited famous painting section of the museum. 

It was pretty easy to tell which ones were the most popular ones, seeing that a crowd of people surrounded certain areas on the wall. Mila and Sara waited in the back of one of the crowds until it cleared up a bit. They couldn’t see what painting it was at first but when they got to the front, they were ecstatic to see that it was none other than their long awaited Starry Night.

Mila had seen this painting over a hundred times already in books or over the internet but it was surprisingly even more moving to see it in person. After about a minute of staring into the blue and yellow swirls, Mila shifted her attention to Sara, who was mesmerized by the painting as well and forgot all about taking a picture of it with her phone.

Mila smirked and took out her own phone in an attempt to take a picture of Sara next to the painting. “Heyy Sara. Say cheese!”

Sara turned around and gave the phone camera a dopey grin and a peace sign. And in that moment while Mila looked through the phone screen to take the picture, she was no longer looking at Starry Night, she was looking at Sara.

_Maybe spending a whole part of my life with you wouldn’t be as bad as I thought…_ Mila’s heart jumped in her chest. _As friends of course,_ she quickly corrected herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw isn't Mila such a cutie


	16. Chapter 16

“You know where we haven’t gone yet while NYC?” Mila asked while bursting into the livingroom excitedly.

Sara looked up from her book. “Where?”

“We haven’t gone out clubbing! Let’s go tonight Sara!”

Sara eyes sparkled. “You’re right! We haven’t gone to a club yet! I heard there’s a really popular one somewhere in Midtown”

Mila began typing away on her phone and pulled up the name of some place. “Oh yeah I think I’ve heard of that one too. This is the one right?” Mila says while showing Sara her phone screen.

“Yeah probably. It looks pretty fancy though. You sure we have enough money?” Sara asked.

“Don’t worry,” Mila replied. “If we do this right we won’t even have to spend any money on drinks.” 

Sara gave her a worried look, which made Mila sigh. “And yes, I have money just in case no one buys us any drinks. But that’s highly unlikely once they get a look at us! I mean I’m not so sure about me, but look at you!” Mila gave a wolf whistle and was very pleased with herself when she saw Sara blush. 

Mila had no idea but, Sara spent the next hour thinking of reasons why the Russian girl didn’t understand how beautiful she really was. In Sara’s opinion, Mila was the most stunning girl she’d ever met.

 

When night finally arrived, Mila and Sara left their apartment hand in hand and headed for their car, which Sara insisted on driving this time. Lately, Mila noticed that whenever she held hands with Sara or whenever she gave her a little peck on the cheek, she barely even had to think twice about it. When her and Sara first started this fake relationship, Mila had to calculate every gesture she made to Sara like a polynomial equation. Now, even though it scared her to admit it, she almost missed Sara’s touch whenever they weren’t pretending.

They got in the car and were just about ready to leave when Sara looked at Mila right in her eyes and smiled.

Mila was caught off guard by the sudden display of affection. “What was that for?”

Sara shook her head. “You know Mila, I think you’re my first friend. I’ve never really had the chance to hang out with anyone like this growing up after… you know…” she looked down and continued. 

“Every day with you is an adventure. I never knew I could feel this way. Even if we’re just pretending, even under these circumstances, I’m so happy. This is the happiest I’ve been in a long time… and it’s all because of you. Thank you Mila.”

And Mila knew Sara wasn't pretending when she said that because there was no one else to hear it but the two of them. 

She didn’t really know how to respond after that so Mila just gave her an awkward thumbs up while trying to hide her embarrassment, which made Sara giggle. Mila is eternally grateful when the rest of the drive to the club is filled up with a debate between her and Sara about the newest winner of The Bachelor.

 

By the time the two get there it was already dark and they found out that the club was not only fancy, but it was also a rooftop club. The bouncer immediately recognized the pair and let them in without question for fear that if he didn’t, he would get targeted by the two biggest mafias in the world (which he probably would have).

Once they successfully entered the building, Mila leaned in and whispered to Sara, “It’s a good thing he didn’t card us. I’m still not 21 yet remember?”

Sara laughed. “Oh that’s right! I almost forgot! Are you sure you can handle all the partying we’re about to be doing?”

“Pleeease. You know I’m a better drinker than you anyways. I’m more worried about you little lady.”

“Is that a challenge? I bet I can-” Sara’s declaration of war stopped halfway when the two girls arrived at the rooftop and were greeted with a sight that seemed almost too expensive for them to even look at.

The club, which was already pretty crowded, was surrounded by bars on all four sides. There was a beautiful view of the sky and all of Manhattan while the dance floor was illuminated with soft blue lights. In the middle was the DJ, the dance floor, and about 100 already drunk dancing people. 

The bar was way too crowded so Mila and Sara ordered their drinks and took a seat at one of the couches away from the dance floor. Mila ordered a Manhattan (as you should in Manhattan) and Sara ordered a very fruity sounding rum mix. They chatted for a while and quickly finished their drinks. However, if they wanted to have some actual fun on the dance floor, Mila knew they definitely needed to be more drunk. 

“I’ll get us a refill,” Mila stood up. “You want the same thing?” Sara nodded and Mila left for the bar. 

After receiving her drinks again, the bartender gave her their tab and Mila winced. Their 4 drinks already racked up a price of about $100. 

_It’s probably best to pay it now. We most likely won't need any more drinks after this anyways… so much for getting some guy to pay our tab,_ Mila thought.

“Hey there Miss. I’ll get that tab for you,” said a stranger’s voice. Mila turned to her left and laid her eyes on a man who would probably be considered to be very attractive if Mila wasn’t in her ‘Dick Repellent’ mode right now.

After considering his offer for a few seconds and very well knowing the implications of a man who payed for a random woman’s drinks, Mila replied. “I don’t know… I’m kinda here with my friend.”

The guy brightened up. “Oh! That’s perfect! I’m here with my buddy too,” He gestured over to another relatively attractive guy sitting a few tables away. “We’d love to come and keep you two company if you’d like.”

This was all part of Mila’s original plan for tonight. Get a lot of fancy drinks and then get some random guys to pay for them. Back in Russia any man would gladly pay for Mila’s ridiculous bar tab, in exchange for a hookup of course. Right now however, she really wasn’t feeling the whole ‘hook up with a guy for drinks’ idea and she didn’t even know if Sara would be ok with it. And Mila definitely knew the guy wouldn’t pay for their drinks if her and Sara didn’t at least entertain him and his friend for a good portion of the night.

Buuuut Mila’s strong desire to not pay $100 won out in the end and she agreed to the offer, much to the stranger’s delight. He took out his wallet, payed the tab, and called his friend over.

 _Oh well. Hope Sara doesn’t mind,_ Mila thought.

With the two new faces following behind her and carrying her drinks, Mila returned back to the Italian girl who was still sitting at the table. One of the guys took a seat next to Mila, and one next to Sara. Mila didn’t even need to explain the situation to Sara. Even though she’s probably never been out in the club scene much, Sara caught on pretty quickly and realized why Mila brought them over. Luckily, the guys didn’t seem to recognize her and Sara from the news.

Sara and the guy who sat next to her, who’s name was Jack, easily started up a conversation while sipping on their drinks. Mila did the same with her guy, but while Sara was actually absorbed in her conversation, Mila had trouble concentrating on her own. She didn’t know why but she kept stealing glances at Sara.

The guy Mila was talking to, who’s name was Chris, asked her a bunch of questions. Mila did the same but didn’t really pay attention to any of his answers. She could tell he didn’t care much for her answers either because his eyes kept drifting down to lower portions of her body. Mila couldn’t really judge him though because her own eyes kept drifting towards Sara and for some reason, Mila’s stomach flipped every time that Sara politely laughed at one of Jack’s probably corny jokes.

 _What is he a comedian? That Jack guy is getting a little too close to Sara if you ask me. Just what is his deal. He needs to- wait… what am I getting so worked up for?_ Mila reprimanded herself.

As if reading her thoughts, Jack and Sara suddenly stood up. “We’re gonna head for the dance floor now. You two can come when you’re ready.” said Jack.

Sara gave Mila a small smile and said, “You don’t mind if we split up do you?”

“No,” Mila replied. But she did mind.

She watched Sara and her new ‘friend’ head for the dance floor and seriously considered going to join them out there before Chris interrupted her thought process. “You haven’t taken a sip of your drink yet. You should probably go ahead and drink it.” he said casually.

Mila looked at her Manhattan. _Oh yeah, I forgot… But I kinda wanna be sober enough to keep an eye on Sara. I’d better not._

“Sorry. I don’t really think I can handle it,” she lied. “I feel bad though after you paid for it. You can finish it if you want.”

Chris clenched his jaw irritantaly, which Mila found suspicious, and shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever,” he replied.

Mila and Chris continued with a conversation for a few minutes, but the whole time Mila caught him flicking looks at her drink. Did he really want her to drink it so badly? That seemed a little weird. 

“Ummm do you want to go dance now?” Mila asked.

“Sure, why not,” he replied disinterestedly.

They made their way to the very loud and very crowded dance floor. Mila immediately spotted Sara, who looked a little more drunk than what she should be after only 2 drinks, and specifically chose a spot for her and Chris to dance where she could also keep an eye on Sara. 

Mila didn’t know very many American hip-hop artists, but she guessed that a song by **A Boogie wit da Hoodie** started to play, making everyone go wild. Chris, like the gentlemen he was, was already basically dancing on top of Mila before the song even got to it’s chorus. She didn’t really care because at this point, she was used to things like this. What she was actually worried about was Sara. 

Mila was very familiar with what a drunk Sara looked like. A little playful, very loud, and very very energetic. What she was looking at right now, was definitely not normal. Sara looked pretty happy, but she was moving unusually sluggishly. She was still very good at dancing though. If Mila wasn’t so worried about her right now, she would have stopped to admire her. Like many things, Sara seemed to be a natural at it. Still though, something rubbed Mila the wrong way about this whole situation.

Jack was, to put it simply, grinding on Sara, which made Mila extremely irritated for some reason. It wasn’t an unusual sight to witness, considering every guy at the club was doing the same thing to the girl they were dancing with. But Mila knew Sara and she would definitely not be reciprocating Jack’s moves if she was sober, and probably even if she wasn’t sober. Mila tried not to look suspicious while she was staring the life out of the girl. 

_Ugh. Look at his smug face. Just lay off her will you. She’s with me Jack, take the hint,_ Mila thought.

Now, Jack started to get a little handsy. He started putting his hands all over Sara’s lower body and worked his way up. Sara, who normally would have stopped this by now, was just letting him do whatever he wanted. Something was wrong.

Mila clenched her teeth. _Get off. Get off. Get off her. Get the fuck off of her. Just get the fuck off of her man._

When Jack grabbed Sara’s ass and started to kiss her neck, Mila snapped. She abandoned Chris, angrily walked over to Sara and Jack, and ripped the girl out from his arms. As expected, Sara was very out of it and barely even responded to Mila’s sudden presence.

“What the fuck? What do you think you’re doing?!” asked Jack who was very agitated to have his groping session interrupted.

Ignoring him, Mila propped Sara up on her shoulder and whispered, “Come on, we’re leaving now.”

But Jack was just not letting this one go. “Hey ginger! You need to relax, she’s staying with me,” He was about to grab Sara’s shoulder when Mila effortlessly twirled around kicked him in the balls.

She didn’t even wait to see anyone’s reaction. Mila just headed straight for the exit. When her and Sara got outside, Mila let go of the drunk girl momentarily to find the car keys. She wanted to yell at Sara. She wanted to tell her off for being so careless, but what right did Mila have? They weren’t even really dating, so she didn’t have an actual reason for losing her cool like that.

“Mila… I’m not feeling too hot,” said Sara weakly. Mila turned around just in time to see Sara dash over to a garbage can, bend over and puke her guts out. 

“Oh my God Sara!!” Mila rushed over to Sara and rubbed her back until she finished, at which point she promptly collapsed and passed out into Mila’s arms. 

“What the fuck just happened?!” Mila said out loud to no one in particular. Then it finally dawned on her that the suspicions she had all night about those guys were not mistaken.

 _Oh my God,_ Mila realized. _They must have drugged our drinks when I wasn’t looking. Sara would never act like this even if she was drunk. No wonder that asshole was so desperate to get me to drink my drink._

Panicking, Mila carried Sara over to the car and laid her down across the back seat. She probably wasn’t going to wake up until sometime tomorrow. 

_If I didn’t get Sara out of there on time, they definitely would have-_ Mila shook her head and decided not to think about what could have happened. She needed to concentrate on getting Sara home.

Reluctantly, Mila got into the driver’s seat and hit the gas pedal. She was now more than sober enough to be able to drive. At first, Mila drove really fast because she was anxious to get Sara home as soon as possible, but she slowed down after realizing that she did not want Sara to feel uncomfortable. It was actually the most cautious Mila had ever driven in her life.

For the entire ride, Mila’s stomach was in knots. Her heart was beating really fast and she kept glancing back at Sara to see if she was okay. She was on the verge of crying for not being able to do anything for her friend.

 _Why do I care about her so much? What’s wrong with me? I’ve never felt like this before,_ Mila thought. She just wanted Sara to be happy all the time and she had no idea why. She wanted her to smile and laugh and have fun. 

It was after a lot of agonizing when Mila finally realized that somewhere along the way, she fell in love with Sara Crispino.

With a new awareness in her mind, Mila drove all the way home stressing about every little crack and bump in the road and prayed that they wouldn’t wake Sara up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! It's about damn time that Mila realized her love for the girl.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's a lil short... again

Sara woke up with an unusually large headache and with no memories of what she was doing before she fell asleep. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was a very concerned Mila. It made Sara amused to see her friend actually looking worried about something for once. Once she saw that Sara’s eyes were finally open, an expression of relief that Sara has never seen before washed over her friend's face. Mila got up from her chair and came over to the bed.

 _Why was she just sitting there watching me sleep? How long was I even asleep?_ Sara wondered.

“Sara! Are you all right? How do you feel?” The girl asked.

Sara sat up and massaged her head. Mila handed her a glass of water and some aspirin, which Sara swallowed down gratefully. The Russian girl waited for her to finish before hesitantly asking another question. “Do you remember anything from last night?”

Sara tried to think but her memories were all very fuzzy. “Uhmm… not really.”

Mila looked very uncomfortable and Sara gave her a quizzical look. “Why? What happened?” 

Instead of answering her question, the girl only avoided eye contact and jutted out her bottom lip. Normally Sara would have found a flustered Mila to be very adorable, but she really wanted to fill in the memories she was missing from last night. “Mila,” Sara said with a look of urgency. “Tell me. Please.”

The redhead hesitated for a minute before slowly spilling all of the details about last night with Sara.  
\--------

Sara sat quietly for a moment. She was at a loss for words. Anybody would be after hearing that they were drugged and almost raped. Who knows what would have happened if Mila hadn’t refused her own drugged drink. Everything started to become less and less foggy to Sara as she vaguely recalled some of the events from last night. Sara looked up at Mila. The girl actually looked genuinely distressed which made Sara feel a little more at ease to know that Mila was in fact worried about her.

“Uhm if it makes you feel any better,” Mila fumbled with her phone. “You know the bodyguards we have stationed in the basement? Well I sent them out to find those two assholes from last night and I am very pleased with the results.” With a huge grin, she displayed a picture on her phone. It was a picture of two men tied up back to back, visibly bruised, bloodied, and crying. 

_Oh woah. Uhhh I think the one on the left is Jack. The guy on the right’s name maybe starts with a C? It doesn’t really matter anymore anyways…. Ew wait. I think they’re missing a few teeth._ Sara giggled. “I guess they won’t be trying anything like that again.”

“Sara…” Mila looked sullen. “I’m so sorry…” 

Sara raised her eyebrows. “What for?”

“For everything! If I hadn’t talked to those stupid guys you wouldn’t have had to be in that mess. None of this should have happened, it’s all my fault Sara,” Mila looked like she was about to cry. “I was so scared. I kept checking your pulse the whole way home. I had no fucking clue what to do! It was like you were dying Sara. I’m so sorry. All of this is my fault.”

Sara furrowed her brows but Mila didn’t notice because she had her head in her hands. The Italian girl sighed and in a quick movement, plucked a hair off of Mila’s head. “OW!” She jolted up.

Sara made sure to take a mental note of the hilarious face Mila just made so she could tease her about it later. _Now that I have your attention…_

“Mila, none of what happened last night was your fault. I did everything that I did last night with my own free will. Am I clear?” Mila remained quiet and did not look very convinced. 

“You really saved me back there ya know? Without you, I’d probably be in a _much_ worse situation right now. I should really be thanking you actually,” Sara flashes her a bright smile. “You were my hero last night Mila Babicheva. Thank you for always looking out for me.”

Mila gave her a warm smile that made Sara’s stomach do flips. “Are you sure you’re okay though?”

“Well I’m a little dizzy right now, but other than that I’m doing pretty okay,” Sara replied.

Mila breathed a sigh of relief and took Sara’s hand in her own. “Good. I’m glad.” 

For some reason, it was only now that Sara realized how much she liked holding hands with Mila.


	18. Chapter 18

“You coming Sara?” called Mila from the other side of the door.

“One sec!” Sara replied as she scrambled to grab her purse. It’s been about a month since the incident at the club and Sara barely even cared about it anymore. However, Mila has been extra careful lately about not letting the Italian girl out of her sight for even a second. 

“Sorry about rushing,” Mila said with an apologetic smile once Sara was finally ready to go. “I just really don’t wanna miss the reservation.” 

Today was Sara’s birthday and to celebrate, Mila was going to take her out to a really fancy Italian place near Central Park. It’s not that Sara wasn’t excited, but every year when her birthday came around she only seemed to think of one thing, the fact that it’s Mickey’s birthday too. It’s been very difficult for Sara to enjoy any of her birthdays after her brother's death. It would just make her feel guilty if she felt like she was enjoying her life while he never got the chance to fully live his. 

Nevertheless, Sara was going to try and put on her best happy face today for Mila’s sake. She didn’t want her to see that any of this stuff still managed to bother her. “Alright let’s go”

When they arrived at the restaurant, Sara and Mila were very surprised to be greeted by a swarm of people with cameras. “Uhhhh Mila, what the hell is this?” asked Sara while clutching onto the girl's arm. 

The news of Sara and Mila’s relationship died out in the media a while ago, so it was very unusual to the girls to have people taking pictures of them again.

Mila looked just as confused as Sara. “... I guess they knew it was your birthday and somehow managed to find out where we were celebrating it. Birthdays are a pretty big couples event ya know? That must be interesting for the media.” 

Sara shrugged and followed Mila into the restaurant where they were seated at a table for two. The menu had all the typical Italian dishes, the only difference being the inflated prices. Sara ordered her favorite, the penne alla vodka, and Mila ordered some kind of seafood pasta. The two always ended up sharing their food anyways so they each ordered something they would both like. It eventually became a tradition whenever they went on one of their ‘dates’.

After the waiter took their menus away, Sara finally got to have a good look at the Russian girl. Her shoulder length hair had its usual waviness and she was wearing a beautiful red dress that reached right above her knees with black heels. Anyone would easily agree that red was definitely Mila’s color. When Sara glanced up, she caught Mila also looking at her, who turned away and blushed. Sara noticed that Mila had been doing that a lot in the past month and couldn’t help but feel flattered that she was looking at her so often. Well, maybe a little more than flattered. She couldn’t quite find the word for it yet but everytime she caught Mila staring, her heart almost jumped out of her chest. 

“You look uh… really pretty Sara,” stammered Mila. Sara was wearing a black dress that ended right below her knees. Her hair was normal and she didn’t particularly think she looked any better than she did most of the time. It was her birthday after all, Mila was probably just being courteous. Still, hearing something like that from her friend made her genuinely happy.

Sara smiled. “Thank you Mila. You do too. I think you should dress up more often.” Mila’s face after receiving the compliment turned the same color as her red dress, which made Sara giggle. 

“I was thinking,” Mila continued, “after we’re done eating we could take a walk through Central Park. Do you wanna?” 

“Sure! Sounds like fun,” Sara beamed. She truly enjoyed spending time with Mila so her answer was not exaggerated in the least.

Their food came and the two spent the evening chatting and drinking wine. Simple as the day was, it was one of Sara’s best birthdays yet and she wondered if she felt that way only because Mila was with her. 

 

When the two finally exited the restaurant, the sky was already dark and there were no crazy paparazzis left. “Wait a sec. I have to look up the directions to the part of Central Park I wanted to show you,” Mila said while pulling out her phone. 

The fact that Mila had this whole night planned out made Sara very flattered. Pulling out her own phone, she decided to scroll through twitter and discovered that a bunch of people were tweeting at her. A really big news page posted a picture someone probably just recently took of her and Mila today at the restaurant with the caption, ‘New York’s favorite mafia couple goes out to celebrate Sara Crispino’s 22nd birthday!’. Sara had to admit, it was nice to be acknowledged by so many people.

“Ok, I’m all ready. Let’s go,” Mila said while holding out her hand. Sara gladly took it without a second thought. Mila’s hand was always very cold and Sara’s hand was always very warm. It was like their hands were made to be together.

The night was beautiful. Luckily, there weren’t very many people to disturb them during their walk. Central Park was every bit as wonderful as Sara had imagined it would be. To be able to walk around a lake with a view of the trees and some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world was seriously enchanting. She would have been content to live the rest of her life as a homeless person in Central Park as long as she would be promised this view everyday. 

The girls walked around and admired everything about New York for about half an hour until their stroll was interrupted by Mila letting go of Sara’s hand. “Sorry,” Mila apologized, “I have to go get something real quick. Do you mind waiting here for a bit?”

Sara wondered why Mila seemed to be nervous about something, but she decided to brush it off. “Uhhhh ok?”

Mila hurried off in a different direction and Sara was left alone with her thoughts. 

_I wish Mickey was here to see all of this. He would have adored the city. It’s just not the same without him._ Sara walked around a little bit and threw a few rocks into the lake. She looked up into the black sky. _It’s a shame you can’t see any stars from the city._

“Happy birthday Sara.”

Sara turned her attention away from the starless sky and focused on the girl that was now standing in front of her. Mila was blushing and looking away while holding out a small bag. 

_Oh, she bought me a present._ Speechless, Sara reluctantly took the bag. 

“I hid it in a bush yesterday. Thank God no one found it,” Mila said bashfully. 

_I bet she bought me some new clothes or some new jewelry._ Sara opened the bag and was immediately stunned. It was a stuffed toy. More specifically, it was a stuffed toy of a mouse holding a heart. “It’s-” Sara started to say.

“It’s Mickey Mouse… get it? Like Mickey?” Mila finished.

Sara didn’t know what to say.

“It’s his birthday too right? Don’t worry, I wouldn’t forget. You shouldn’t either. I’m sure he’s happy right now because you’re living your life as you want to live it. Don’t let him hold you back,” Mila said with a gentle smile.

It was then that Sara realized that she wasn’t pretending to be in love with Mila anymore. She didn’t care if Mila still thought of all of this as an act, because Sara was in love with Mila Babicheva.

Remaining silent, Sara threw her arms around Mila. Sara just held her and Mila held her right back. They stayed there for a while, in the middle of Central Park at 12am, breathing in each other’s scent and appreciating the way the other feels against them. 

The ride back to their apartment was filled with sweet smiles and flushed faces. Sara couldn’t wait any longer. She wanted to tell Mila exactly how she felt about her. She didn’t want to waste anymore time. The two finally reached their building after what Sara felt like was forever. She closed the door to their apartment while Mila took off her shoes and rubbed her feet. 

“Phewww. That was a lot walking,” the girl looked up at Sara. “Did you have fun Sar-mmph,” Sara cut her off mid-sentence by taking Mila’s face and planting a very long kiss on the girl’s lips. 

This kiss was different from all the other fake ones the two have shared. This time, it felt as if sparks were flying out of every movement they made. About a few seconds in, she felt Mila kiss back, prompting Sara to put her arms around the taller girl’s neck. Mila tasted like wine and Sara realized that she probably tasted like wine too, considering they shared the same drink that night. 

After what seemed like a long time, yet not long enough, the two broke apart panting. Mila didn’t look at all fazed. Instead she looked certain, as if she had also been wanting this for the longest time. Both of the girls knew what this meant. They kissed in their own apartment. Otherwise meaning, they kissed when no one was forcing them to do so. No one was looking. No one would find out. No one would care. It didn’t matter to anyone in the world except them.

Sara didn’t need to say anything after that. She didn’t need to. It was very clear that each of them had gotten the intended message the other wanted to portray. Their feelings were fresh and up in the air and Sara was 100% certain that Mila felt the same way. 

Mila took Sara’s hands in hers and held it tight, tight, tight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After 18 chapters... FINALLY :)


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small wrap up of the story

“Sara, we gotta get out of the car.”

“10 more minutes”

Mila sighed. Usually Sara was very excited to see or talk to her father. Today was different though. There was a bit of a predicament. After about five months of fake dating, their fathers had requested a meeting with the girls to discuss further plans. If things were normal, Mila would have had no problem meeting with her father and Sara’s. However, things between Mila and Sara were not going exactly as their fathers had planned.

“So how are we gonna tell them that we’re actually dating each other now?” Sara asked nervously.

It’s been about a week since the girls made their feelings for each other very clear. The only logical thing to do next was to start dating for real, which they happily agreed to. In fact, Mila was probably the happiest she’d ever been in her life. When she first met Sara, she never in a million years would have expected to actually fall in love with her. 

“We should just rip it off like a band-aid and straight up tell them. What’s the worst that could happen? If anything they’ll be pleased with us,” Mila explained.

Sara was looking down and fumbling with the car keys. “I dunno… maybe we should wait a while until we tell them.”

“Sara, I promise it’ll be fine. They set us up in the first place, there’s no way they’d be mad at us. They’ll probably be thrilled to find out since us being together would literally be the best possible new in terms of our mafia’s success. Just imagine it. The Russian mafia and the Italian mafia tied together from now on… Insane!” said Mila with a smile.

When Sara still didn’t look very convinced, Mila reached over, cupped the girl's face in her hand and gave her a little peck on the cheek. 

Sara relaxed a little. “All right, I’m ready. Let’s go in.”

 

By the time the Mila and Sara entered the room, their fathers were already seated and having a nice chat. Mr. Crispino’s face lit up as soon as they walked in. “Ah girls! It’s so nice to see you two again! How have you been?”

Sara answered. “We’re pretty ok I guess.”

“Good to hear. Go ahead and take a seat,” he answered.

It’s strange. This was the room that Mila had first met Sara in. They had sat across from each other and had no idea about the adventures they would go on together. Now the two sat side by side, all too familiar with each other. 

“Let’s get right down to business,” Mila’s father said.

_Ugh he’s always so straightforward. Pleaseee be patient today father…_ Mila prayed.

“You girls are actually doing a pretty good job at faking your relationship. Everyone, including our mafia members, are convinced that you two are head over heels in love,” Mr. Crispino started.

_Hah. Jokes on you because we actually are._

“Yes, the results you two have produced are very pleasing. At this rate you’ll only need to keep up this facade for a few more years and then you’ll be free to go your separate ways. I assume that’s an acceptable proposition for you both,” Mila’s father continued.

Mila glanced at Sara and gave her a reassuring nod. She saw Sara swallow hard. “Well uhm you see… the thing is… we uh…” She was tongue-tied. Mila decided that in order to prevent Sara from suffering a heart attack, she would have to be the one to break the news. 

“Sara and I are dating for real now,” Mila stated bluntly.

Sara shot Mila a look and turned bright red. “Wha-! MILA!”

Mila raised her eyebrows quizzically. “What’s wrong?”

“D-dont just say it so nonchalantly!” Sara squeaked.

“Well how did you want me to say it?” Mila asked with a smirk.

Now Sara had a look of amusement on her face too. “I dunno? Maybe put more emotion into it?”

Mr. Crispino cut in. “Wait hold on a second,” his face went white. “What did you two just say?”

She heard Sara take a deep breath. “Well, after spending a lot of time together over these past months, Mila and I… have fallen in love.”

Mila was smitten. _Ahhhhh! Sara you’re so cute! I just wanna squeeze you right now and cover your face in a million kisses!_

She glanced at her father. His jaw was wide open and he had on one of the funniest faces she’d ever seen him make. _Hah… on second thought maybe I better hold off on the kisses until I hear our fathers’ responses._

“We’d really appreciate it,” Sara continued. “If you could offer us your approval.”

Neither of the men said anything for a while. Mila started getting nervous and she could tell that Sara was also dying on the inside. Thankfully, Mr. Crispino finally spoke up. “Sara. Mila. This is- This is wonderful news!”

Mila almost fell out of her chair. He continued, “If this is how both of you really feel, then I couldn’t be happier for the two of you! I’m astounded that you both have found happiness in the midst of the situation we put you in. I’ll have to admit I felt a little guilty about forcing the two of you to be together at first, but now I’m thrilled to hear that this is the result of it!” 

“I agree,” Mila heard her father cut in. “I never would have expected this kind of outcome but I’m not going to stand in the way of you girls. In terms of power status for our mafias, it’s tremendous for you to actually be in a relationship.”

Mila was shocked. She kind of expected Sara’s easy going father to be into this whole thing, but she definitely never expected her father to accept their relationship so easily. Yet, she couldn’t help but be a little disappointed that the only reason her father approved of her and Sara was because it meant more mafia power for him.

Mila’s father sensed the letdown in his daughter. He quickly added to his previous statement, “Of course, what matters most is how you feel Mila… As long as you’re happy, I wouldn’t have a problem with supporting you in whatever you do,” he gave her a warm smile that Mila hadn’t seen him make in years.

The two girls were now simultaneously grinning. Their plan had went way better than expected, with positive regards from both of their fathers. 

“Well, there’s nothing more we really need to discuss after that. You two can leave now if you want,” Mr. Crispino stated cheerily. Sara ran up to her father and hugged him. Mila wasn’t really use to showing any emotion to her father so she just nodded and him and gave him a bunch of ‘Thank yous’.

Right before the girls were about to leave the room, they heard Mila’s father call out. “Just try not to break up anytime soon!”

The girls looked at each other and grinned.

“There’s no way that’s ever gonna happen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To anyone of you that made it here, congrats and I love u for taking the time to read something I wrote. I really hope you guys enjoyed reading about Mila and Sara's story. If you like it a lot, please spread it around on like Tumblr or something. That's where I always find fics to read haha. Also PLEASE give kudos and COMMENT. I love hearing what you guys think, so even if you say this story was trash, just comment lol. Thank you again for reading :D


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